One of the eligibility requirements for Medicare is turning 65. Three months before you do turn 65, you’ll enter your Initial Enrollment Period, allowing you to enroll in Medicare for the first time. But, you may wonder if you have to sign up for Medicare once you turn 65. To answer this question, you need to consider certain circumstances to make the best decision.
Delaying Medicare Enrollment
Enrolling in Medicare is very much a suggestion rather than a requirement. However, delaying your Medicare enrollment isn’t always the best idea! Here’s why.
If you are age 65, retired, and you delay your enrollment, you may face late enrollment penalties if you later decide to enroll in Medicare. And, if you still have a retiree health plan through a former employer, Medicare would probably be considered primary to the retiree health plan, so you’ll have to enroll to avoid late enrollment penalties.
You can still have both forms of coverage, though. Medicare and retiree health plans work together to provide substantial coverage for your healthcare expenses.
Now, if you didn’t have any health coverage at all, there would be no benefit in delaying your Medicare enrollment. You would be faced with late enrollment penalties when you do decide to enroll and it just would not be worth it, especially when many people already receive Part A premium-free and can be automatically enrolled.
What If I’m Still Working?
If you are still working, you may delay your enrollment in some instances without penalty. Suppose you have a group health plan through your employer and the company has less than 20 employees. In that case, you will need to sign up for Medicare around age 65 to avoid paying late enrollment fees. Medicare serves as the primary insurance when you work in a company with less than 20 employees.
However, if you work in a company with 20 or more employees, then Medicare will serve as the secondary insurance to your group health plan. In this case, you can delay your Medicare enrollment when you turn 65 as the group health plan serves as creditable coverage. You can delay your Medicare enrollment until you lose that coverage or decide to enroll in Medicare. This means you won’t face any late enrollment penalty for delaying enrollment.
Now, if you prefer to make the most of your coverage options, then you can enroll in Medicare while still receiving coverage from your group health plan.
Give Us A Call Today!
In summary, you may delay your Medicare enrollment when you turn 65 but may or may not face late enrollment penalties depending on certain factors. If you have any questions about delaying your enrollment or enrolling in Medicare on time, you can always reach out to Cornerstone Senior Advisors.