When you turn 65 years old you become eligible to enroll in Medicare Parts A and B – the U.S. government’s national medical and hospital insurance coverage. This 7-month enrollment period is called the Initial Enrollment Period. The Initial Enrollment Period begins 3 months prior to your 65th birthday month and ends 3 months after your birthday month. Most people realize when this time is approaching because you may become bombarded with marketing material in the mail from various private insurance companies, agents and brokers marketing Medicare plans they offer and reminding you that you are turning 65 soon. All of this is to help you make an informed decision of how you are going to get your Original Medicare coverage. The Medicare office will also contact you. They may send several letters by mail prior to the 3 months before your birthday to remind you to sign up for coverage. However, you also must stay conscious of when your enrollment period is approaching in case you miss the correspondence in the mail. You want to make sure not to miss your enrollment period.
If, by chance you do miss signing up for Medicare Parts A and B during your Initial Enrollment period, believe it or not, you may have another chance to enroll. The General Enrollment period that starts January 1st of each year and runs until March 31st can be used to enroll in Original Medicare for the first time. You must meet two conditions though:
1. You didn’t sign up when you were first eligible.
AND
2. You are not eligible for a Special Enrollment Period.
If you meet both of these conditions, then you still have a short time left to sign up this year during the General Enrollment Period.
You should be aware that if do miss your initial enrollment, it is nothing to be taken lightly. There may be penalties imposed for missing this 7-month time frame:
1. Although you enroll between January 1st and March 31st, your coverage will not begin until July 1st.
2. If you are required to pay a Part A premium, a 10% penalty may be added to your premium payment each month.
3. Your Part B monthly premium may go up 10% for each 12-month period you would have had Part B if you had signed up during the initial enrollment period. It is possible for the Part B penalty to be waive. Certain conditions exist that would allow you to sign up for Medicare Part B during a Special Enrollment period. You can read more about different situations that could affect when you register for Part B on the Medicare.gov website.
These late enrollment penalties may be required to be paid, in addition to the premiums, each month for the as long as you have Parts A and Parts B.
If you have questions about Initial Enrollment, General Enrollment or late enrollment penalties, feel free to contact me, Kim, by phone at 602.644.1240 or by email at info@centsabledollar.com. I am a licensed agent and insured agent. Consultation is always free.
