Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 29 to 35.

Under the Medicare insurance policy, people approaching 65 may enroll during the seven-month period that includes three months before the sixty-fifth birthday, the month in which the birthday falls, and three months after the birthday. However, if they wish the insurance coverage to begin when they reach 65, they must enroll three months before their birthday. People who do not enroll within their first enrollment period may enroll later, during the first three months of each year. Those people, however, must pay 10% additional for each twelve-month period that elapsed since they first could have enrolled. The monthly premium is deducted from social security payments, railroad retirement or civil service retirement benefits.

The word “elapsed” in the passage most closely means _______.