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Retiring or leaving your employer’s plan
If you kept working past 65, you may have delayed parts of Medicare. Here is how to switch over without gaps or penalties.
You have a Special Enrollment Period
If you or your spouse are still working and covered by a group health plan based on that current job, you can usually delay Part B without penalty. (If the employer has fewer than 20 employees, Medicare usually pays first, so you may need Part B right away. Check with the plan.) When the job or the coverage ends, whichever comes first, you have eight months to sign up for Part B.
Don’t wait until the end of that window. Signing up before your employer coverage ends helps you avoid a gap in coverage.
COBRA and retiree coverage don’t count the same way
COBRA and retiree health plans are not based on current employment, so they don’t protect you from the Part B late enrollment penalty. Many people get caught by this. If you are offered COBRA after 65, talk with someone before you rely on it.
Prescription drug coverage
If your employer drug coverage was “creditable,” meaning at least as good as standard Part D, you can enroll in Part D without a penalty as long as you do it within 63 days of losing that coverage. Your employer or plan sends a notice each year that says whether your coverage is creditable. Keep it.
What to have ready
- The date your employer coverage ends
- Proof of employer coverage (Social Security uses form CMS-L564, completed by your employer)
- Your creditable coverage notice for prescriptions
- A list of your doctors and medications
Get help, no cost to you
Medicare is a big decision. You don’t have to make it alone.
We compare plans from several carriers side by side and explains the tradeoffs in plain language. You decide.