I am 70 years old and retired collecting SS and under...

The Medicare Part D prescription drug plan you mention is about average in terms of monthly premium -- about $35 per month. For many people, the premium cost is offset by the savings they get on their regular prescription drugs. But if you do not take regular prescription drugs, why should you pay this $420 a year? The answer is, you shouldn't -- it's a waste of money. Nonetheless, you might still want to consider enrolling now in a different Medicare Part D plan if one with very low or no premium is available to you where you live. Here's why.

If you don't enroll when you're first eligible for Medicare (at age 65) but later do join a plan, you pay a penalty of 1 percent per month on the premiums for every month you've delayed. This higher premium cost applies to any plan you eventually enroll in, and the penalty is permanent. You don't regularly use any prescription drugs now, but it's possible that you might regularly need such drugs -- including some very expensive ones -- in the future. Since you've already delayed at least 60 months, if you were to enroll in a plan now, your premiums would be 60 percent higher. And if you continue to delay, that penalty amount could make the premiums much higher. If and when you do need drugs and you want to enroll in a Part D plan, the particular plans that cover your drugs may each have a high monthly premium, which would be considerably higher because of your long delay in enrolling. If you enroll in a plan -- any plan -- now, you will limit the penalty to 60 percent. So, if you can find a plan that has a very low premium ($5 a month or less) or none at all, you can sign up for it -- even if it doesn't have very good coverage -- because enrolling in any Part D plan will stop the growth of your permanent penalty, and you won't have to pay much if anything to do so. Then, if and when you do need drug coverage, you can switch to any plan that covers the drugs you need.