Retiring Past 65? Learn How Your Medicare Enrollment is Different!

many people choose to work past age 65 these days and this could make things a bit tricky when later on you need to start Medicare because you're finally retiring hi there I'm Ginny oak Uncle Roberts co-founder and Medicare expert here at boomer benefits if you plan to retire past age 65 stick around to learn how you should go about enrolling in Medicare if you work past age 65 for an employer that has 20 or more employees also called a large employer then you can delay Medicare without penalty until you retire however once you retire you will have likely passed your seven-month initial enrollment period and therefore you will need to use a special enrollment period for signing up for Medicare it's important that you understand how the special enrollment period works because if you miss it you can later be assessed a late penalty and you may have to wait until the next general enrollment period to enroll possibly causing you to go without health coverage for a period of time when working beyond the normal retirement age it's likely that many of you have already enrolled in Part A back at 65 and you've had that in place all along coordinating with your employer group health benefits however if you have not enrolled in Part A yet then your special enrollment period for Part A will be the same as it is for Part B you will have an eight month special enrollment period that starts the month after your employment and your creditable employer medical coverage ends for example if you lose creditable coverage on March 31st you have until November 30th to enroll in Part A and B to avoid any late penalties but of course if you wait until November to enroll in Medicare you'd be without coverage for several months so it's best to enroll sooner rather than later your special enrollment period is the same even if you have Cobra or retiree coverage Cobra and retiree coverage are not creditable coverage for Medicare because both of those types of coverage pay secondary to Medicare Medicare is primary so even if you qualify for 18 months of Cobra or lifelong retiree coverage you need to enroll in Medicare during your special enrollment period or you'll incur late penalties now that we've discussed when you should enroll let's talk about how you should go about and rolling if you don't already have part a you can go to the Social Security website and apply for Part A however for Part B there are some necessary forms that you and your employer must complete these are formed CMS for TB which is an application for Part B and form CMS l56 for which is a request for employment information that your employer will complete attesting to your dates of creditable coverage you can mail or take these forms in person back to the local Social Security office however during the co-ed pandemic when so many local Social Security offices have been closed Social Security has also launched an online portal where you can submit this information to apply for Part B online using your special enrollment period we're hopeful that they'll keep this online Part B application around even after the pandemic is over so we'll post a link to it for you in the description area below this video now if you choose to go the paper application route and for some reason your employer cannot complete their portion of the request for employment information form then you the beneficiary can complete section a leaving the employer section b blank and you'll include at least one other acceptable proof of group health coverage some acceptable forms of proof may include but are not limited to a certificate of creditable coverage from your former group insurance a copy of your health insurance cards with effective dates income tax returns that show health insurance premiums paid or even pay stubs that reflect health insurance premium deductions you essentially need to prove to Social Security that you don't owe any late penalties from delaying Part B because of course you maintain that other creditable coverage some people pay more than this standard base premium for Part B because they have high incomes so if your employment income is higher than 87,000 as an individual filer or 174,000 as a married filer Social Security will likely assess an income related monthly adjustment amount or on top of your Part B monthly premium however since you're retiring and may no longer have that higher income going forward you can appeal your higher Part B premium completing and submitting form SSA 44 which is Medicare's herma life-changing event form you use this form to notify Social Security that your income has changed due to a life-changing event which in this case is retirement or what they call work stoppage we also have an entire youtube video dedicated to this topic so we'll link to it and all the forms we've just mentioned as well in the description below the video while you have eight months to sign up for Medicare Part B after you leave work the special enrollment period for Medicare Part D is much shorter your special enrollment period for Part D starts the day that you lose creditable drug coverage and lasts for a total of two months now if your employer offers retiree coverage which usually includes coverage for prescription drugs you may be able to delay Part D for as long as you have that retiree coverage check with your employers HR department to see if your retiree drug coverage is creditable - Part D lastly Part D plans are not sold through Medicare instead you'll enroll with a private insurance carrier that offers Part D coverage in your state if you enroll in your Medigap plan through boomer benefits we will help you find your most cost effective initial Part D drug plan once you have Part A and Part B you'll be able to enroll in either a Medigap or a Medicare Advantage plan if you plan to go with a Medigap plan be aware that you will have just six months from your Part B effective date to enroll in a Medigap plan without having to answer any health questions for example if your last day of employer coverage is March 31st and you apply for Part B during the month of March your Part B will likely start on April 1st April 1st would then be the first day of your Medigap open enrollment window and that six-month window will come to a close on September 30th after that point you're gonna still apply for Medigap but you'll have to answer health questions in most states and your acceptance is not guaranteed now if you choose to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan instead of a Medigap plan you will have two months from the last day of your employer coverage to do so if you miss this two-month special enrollment period you will have to wait until the next annual election period that starts in October each year so many election period how can a new Medicare beneficiary possibly keep track of them all not to worry we can help and our service here is completely free as soon as you know your Medicare ID number give our team a call at eight one seven two four nine eighty six hundred and we can help you find the most cost effective Medicare plan in the meantime check out our Medicare Advantage vs. Medicare supplement video right here

Channel: Boomer Benefits - Medicare Expert

Views: 60,066

Keywords: Retiring Past 65? Learn How Your Medicare Enrollment is Different!, Retiring Past 65, medicare when working, delaying medicare, special enrollment period, medicare and working part time, can i delay medicare, delay medicare part b, delay medicare part a, delay medicare part d, medicare when working beyond 65, medicare enrollment, retirement planning, retirement, we speak medicare, boomer benefits

Id: BmCmLUkw7HI

Length: 7min 4sec (424 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 10 2020