Posted at 12:55 p.m., Friday, September 23, 2005
Business briefs: Providers chosen for Medicare plan
Advertiser Staff
Kaiser Permanente and Wellcare Health Plans are among the companies selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to offer the new Medicare prescription drug program in Hawaii.Rather than a single Medicare drug plan, seniors will be allowed to choose from an array of programs offered by the selected insurance companies. Insurers will begin marketing their offerings Oct. 1, with enrollments to begin Nov. 15. Coverage will kick in Jan. 1. Initial estimates project that Medicare Part D, part of the greatest expansion in Medicare's 40-year history, will cost nearly $400 billion over 10 years.
IRS loses tax payments from residents of Hawaii, 12 other states
The Internal Revenue Service said it lost 30,000 estimated tax payments from residents of Hawaii and 12 other Western states when the truck that was transporting the checks got in an accident on the San Mateo Bridge, and the payments were blown into into San Francisco Bay.
The IRS said it was working to help taxpayers whose payments were lost. The IRS said it was encouraging taxpayers who believe a payment may have been lost to wait until Sept. 30 before contacting the agency. After Sept. 30, taxpayers whose checks have not cleared their bank should contact the IRS at 1-800-8291040.
