Medicare

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Topic Author
Everest1
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:15 am

Medicare

Post by Everest1 »

I will be turning 65 this year
I get my health insurance from my employer ( more than 20 employees)
I have been given conflicting advice regarding a penalty for not signing up for Part B.

My questions are:
1. Do I need to do anything at all? Do I need to contact Medicare and indicate that I am delaying signing up for part B? My employer has stated that they will give me a letter stating I was fully employed when I turned 65 when the time comes for me to retire and sign up for Medicare.

2. If I do not contact Medicare now will I face a penalty for Part B premiums?

3. Any advantage/disadvantage to signing up for Part A now ?

Thanks
Big Dog
Posts: 4608
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 4:12 pm

Re: Medicare

Post by Big Dog »

3. One downsides to signing up for Part A is that you can no longer participate in a HSA. (if your employer offers it)
Zanmar
Posts: 187
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2022 8:10 pm

Re: Medicare

Post by Zanmar »

You may want to read this about who pays what first.

https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-sta ... ng-past-65
user5027
Posts: 971
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 8:54 pm

Re: Medicare

Post by user5027 »

I'd work with a broker, Boomer Benefits. It will not cost you anything to use them and they can answer your questions.

FYI: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in Boomer Benefits.
billfromct
Posts: 2057
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:05 am

Re: Medicare

Post by billfromct »

If you have employer healthcare, continue working after age 65, 3 months & want to apply for Medicare when you leave employment after age 65, 3 months, you must have your employer fill out form OMB 0938-0787, Request For Employment Information. This form must be submitted with your Medicare application when you apply for Medicare after age 65, 3 months & have employer healthcare.

A letter from your employer stating that you had employer health insurance at age 65 cannot be a substitute for OMB Form 0938-0787.

When I left my employer at age 69, I had to print out the form, fill out the first section (A), mail it to corporate HR so they could fill out Section B, sign it & mail it back to me. After I got the form, I went to the local SS office to complete the Medicare application process. This was a few years ago before Covid so I don’t know if the physical SS office process is viable. If you have local a local HR office where you work, they should be able to fill out the form right there.

I believe you have 8 months to sign up for Medicare (with that form) after losing your employer healthcare. You may want to check “the google” to make sure.

I signed up for Medicare Part A (hospitalization), even though I had employer health insurance since there is no cost & I did not have a high deductible health insurance plan, so contributing to a health savings account did not come into play. I signed up for Medicare Part A just to get it out of the way. I don’t know if there is any other advantage than that.

bill
cashmoney
Posts: 724
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2017 11:15 pm

Re: Medicare

Post by cashmoney »

Everest1 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 10:12 am I will be turning 65 this year
I get my health insurance from my employer ( more than 20 employees)
I have been given conflicting advice regarding a penalty for not signing up for Part B.

My questions are:
1. Do I need to do anything at all? Do I need to contact Medicare and indicate that I am delaying signing up for part B? My employer has stated that they will give me a letter stating I was fully employed when I turned 65 when the time comes for me to retire and sign up for Medicare.

2. If I do not contact Medicare now will I face a penalty for Part B premiums?

3. Any advantage/disadvantage to signing up for Part A now ?

Thanks

Definitely don't want to enroll in part A if you have HSA. One small advantage of enrolling in part A is that you will get assigned a medicare number and mailed a medicare card with part A only.Having medicare number when you do decide to enroll in part B can make the process easier.It also allows you to enroll in a part D plan if needed.If you are not collecting social security you will not automatically be enrolled in part b so no need to contact medicare . if you are collecting social security you will be automatically enrolled in part a and b and would need to contact them to postpone it .In your scenario you will not be penalized for postponing part B.Before you decide to postpone medicare you may want to compare what your cost will be keeping employer coverage vs taking medicare because it is not uncommon for working medicare eligible people to get lower cost or better benefits through medicare.BTW when you do decide to enroll in medicare you apply through social security to enroll in a special enrollment period for part B

disclaimer licensed agent
Asyouwish
Posts: 370
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2020 6:20 am

Re: Medicare

Post by Asyouwish »

Everest1 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 10:12 am I will be turning 65 this year
I get my health insurance from my employer ( more than 20 employees)
I have been given conflicting advice regarding a penalty for not signing up for Part B.

My questions are:
1. Do I need to do anything at all? Do I need to contact Medicare and indicate that I am delaying signing up for part B? My employer has stated that they will give me a letter stating I was fully employed when I turned 65 when the time comes for me to retire and sign up for Medicare.

2. If I do not contact Medicare now will I face a penalty for Part B premiums?

3. Any advantage/disadvantage to signing up for Part A now ?

Thanks
1. No. Continue to work, keeping your employer coverage.

2. No penalty as long as you work and we’re covered under employer plan.

3. Sign up for Part A. It’s free. Why not sign up? You can specifically say Part A only. You will get a Medicare card that says Part A. Also…Gets your information into the system as a head start for adding B later.

You have 8 months (called Special Enrollment Period) SEP to sign up penalty free after retirement from work/with employer plan. There is a special form that gets filled out that your employer certifies you were employed and covered under an employer plan up until retirement. https://www.ssa.gov/help/iClaim_medSEP.html

When I retired, I got the form ahead of time. This way it was ready to go when I retired.

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/CMS-Forms/ ... S40B-E.pdf And the employer Form CMS-L564 ”Request for Employment Information”
completed by your employer if you’re signing up in a SEP.
Topic Author
Everest1
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:15 am

Re: Medicare

Post by Everest1 »

Thanks !
Topic Author
Everest1
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:15 am

Re: Medicare

Post by Everest1 »

Thanks !
tj
Posts: 9368
Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2009 11:10 pm

Re: Medicare

Post by tj »

user5027 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 10:39 am I'd work with a broker, Boomer Benefits. It will not cost you anything to use them and they can answer your questions.

FYI: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in Boomer Benefits.

I'm not sure why a broker would be helpful. They won't need to sign up for Medicare until they retire.
user5027
Posts: 971
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 8:54 pm

Re: Medicare

Post by user5027 »

tj wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 8:37 pm
user5027 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 10:39 am I'd work with a broker, Boomer Benefits. It will not cost you anything to use them and they can answer your questions.

FYI: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in Boomer Benefits.

I'm not sure why a broker would be helpful. They won't need to sign up for Medicare until they retire.
They can answer their questions with regards to the original post. I would find that helpful.
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