Turning 65 – Have You Enrolled in Medicare?

Turning 65 – Have You Enrolled in Medicare?

By Loretta Hartzell, Hartzell & Associates, Inc

If you are going to be turning 65 soon, congratulations!  Now it’s time to enroll in Medicare and it can sometimes be confusing. Here are some simple rules to follow.

3. 3. 1. If you are receiving Social Security benefits your Medicare card will be mailed to you three months prior to your birth month. You will be enrolled in both Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance).  At that time, you will need to decide to either accept or decline Part B.  A reason for declining Part B would be that you are receiving insurance thru your employer or spouse’s employer.

       

      2. If you are not receiving Social Security, you will need to proactively sign up for Medicare three months before your 65^th You do this through the Social Security Administration, by calling 800-772-1213 or online at www.ssa.gov to enroll in Medicare.  Once again you will need to decide if you need to enroll in both Part A and Part B of Medicare.  If you are continuing to work and have insurance coverage thru your employer in most cases you don’t need to enroll in Part B. If you are still working and do not have an HSA (Health Saving Account with a high deductible health plan) you want to enroll in Part A.  If, however you have an HSA account you do not want to enroll in Part A because once enrolled in Part A you will no longer be able to contribute to the HSA.  Another point to mention is when you do plan on retiring you must stop contributing to your HSA account six months prior to your retirement date.

       

      3. Your Initial Enrollment Period – If you’re eligible for Medicare when you turn 65, you can sign up during your Initial Enrollment Period.  This is a seven-month period that begins three months before the month you turn 65, includes the month you turn 65, and ends three months after you turn 65.

• If your birthday isn’t on the first day of the month, your coverage starts the first day of your birthday month. For example, your 65th birthday is July 10, 2020.  If you enroll you enroll in April, May, or June, your coverage will begin on July 1^st.
• If your birthday is on the first day of the month, your coverage starts the first day of the prior month. For example, your 65^th birthday is July 1, 2020.  If you enroll in March, April or May coverage will start on June 1^st.
• If you enroll in Medicare during your birth month or the last 3 months of your Initial Enrollment Period, your start date will be delayed as follows:

For more information go to medicare.gov. Click on the tab “Sign Up/Change Plans”. Another source would be the publication “Enrolling in Medicare Part A & Part B”.  In the search box in the upper right-hand corner enter 11036 to view that publication.