A person first becomes eligible for insurance through Medicare when they turn 65 years old, receive Social Security (SS) or Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) benefits or are diagnosed with End-Stage Renal Disease or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. For people who are simply turning another day older, the fact that they are now eligible for health insurance...
A person first becomes eligible for insurance through Medicare when they turn 65 years old, receive Social Security (SS) or Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) benefits or are diagnosed with End-Stage Renal Disease or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. For people who are simply turning another day older, the fact that they are now eligible for health insurance through Medicare may not be a life-changing occurrence because they are presently insured by an employer or through their spouse’s insurance policy. But the option to get healthcare from Medicare is available and so long as the person continues to comply with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, which mandates that all American citizens have healthcare coverage that meets a minimum standard, a newly of-age person should rest a-sured that the ability to hop onto a Medicare plan will is still there.
Medicare requires that newly qualified people to the program sign up for healthcare as soon as they become eligible. If a person does not sign up for insurance through Medicare, either through the Social Security Office for a Medicare Part A and/or Part B plan or through a private insurance company for a Medicare Advantage, which is also known as a Medicare Part C plan, there may be a penalty imposed for waiting.
The question is, if a person has health insurance either through their employer or through their spouse when they turn 65 and opt not to get healthcare coverage through Medicare immediately, as required by Medicare, will they be penalized when they do get healthcare coverage through Medicare?
The Medicare program supports people who recently turned 65 and are now eligible for Medicare coverage, who choose to keep the coverage paid for by their employer or their spouse’s employer because it saves the Medicare program, which is partially funded by the federal government, money. The period of time that a person who just turned 65 years old chooses to keep their other insurance coverage in lieu of signing up for a Medicare policy creates an exception to the mandatory enrollment period.
Let’s discuss the enrollment period a little further. If a person chooses to sign up for a Medicare healthcare plan when they turn 65, either because they have canceled the plan they had personally or through their employer or their spouse’s employer or because they simply do not have insurance, the enrollment period to sign up without fear of a penalty starts three months before the month that you turn 65 (three months before your birthday month). The mandatory enrollment period also includes your birthday month and the three months after your birthday month. In total, you have a seven-month window to sign up for a Medicare policy. This period of time to enroll applies to any Medicare program.
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