Now today's topic is actually
a question of when can you start Medicare?
And this is a question
posed by somebody that is getting ready to turn 65.
When will they begin Medicare?
Welcome to Medicare School Daily,
where we help you understand Medicare, save money,
avoid making mistakes and above all else,
get the most out of your Medicare benefits.
Well, there's two different scenarios here.
first off,
if you are already receiving Social Security benefits,
meaning you've signed up for Social Security,
you're receiving those retirement benefits.
Then your Medicare A and B card is going to be mailed to you
automatically.
About 100 days or so prior to your birth month,
that's a little over three months.
That Medicare card is
going to show up in your mail
and your A and B dates are going
to start on your birth month.
So that's when we begin Medicare
during our 65th birthday.
Now there is one exception to this,
and that is if your birthday falls
on the first day of the month.
So let's say your birthday was July one.
Your coverage, you actually will begin
one month prior during the month of June.
Let's say your birthday's in December
it's going to start in November,
so they always move you back to the previous month
if you're born on the first day.
But if your birthday is on the second day thereafter,
your coverage will always begin on your birth month.
Now secondly, here,
if you're not receiving Social Security, in other words,
you've made the decision, you're not going to take your
Social Security early.
You don't want that reduction of benefit,
but you are going to start
Medicare at 65, then you are going to need to self enroll.
And when you self enrolled will determine when Medicare
is going to start your coverage.
So again, this second group of people
not taking Social Security, but you are
going to start Medicare, and this would be anyone
who is not covered
by an employer plan
or their spouse is not covered by an employer plan
and you're not on Social Security.
So you may have a retiree plan
or maybe a Cobra plan or maybe an ACA plan.
You're going to start Medicare at 65,
but you'll need to self enroll.
And so there's a specific timeline
for self enrolling into Medicare.
And again, we call this enrollment opportunity.
The initial enrollment period
and it only last seven months.
And so the month that you choose to enroll
will determine when they start your coverage.
So it's very important to choose the right month
based upon when you want your coverage to begin.
So let me give you a quick example.
This is someone that's born during the month of July.
Now, keep in mind, their birthday is July
2nd to the 31st because remember,
if they're born July one,
we would start
their Medicare coverage one month earlier,
so this whole timeline would change.
But if we're
born on the second day thereafter through the 31st,
this is our seven month window.
And so notice,
if I enroll my three months before my birth month,
the result will be my coverage will begin July one.
So any enrollment during these three months
will start my coverage July one.
But watch what happens
if my birthday is in July and I enroll into Medicare
in July.
My coverage will be delayed one month.
And so what happens here?
You're going to see they begin
to delay our coverage when we enroll.
So you enroll in July. Delayed to August. If your birthday's in July
and you enroll in August in that system,
they'll delay your coverage until October.
So they put it off a couple of months
if your birthday's in July and you enroll in September.
Now your coverage is delayed October, November
and you don't start until December one
if you enroll in October with the July birthday.
They delay you.
November December start you January first.
So as you can see, the month that you enrolled determines
when they start your coverage based upon this timeline
that I just explained.
All right, so that's for those of you.
That have to self enroll.
You want to do it at the right particular time.
Now there's three different scenarios,
that im going to teach
about real quickly in this video and that is this.
So when can you start Medicare?
Well, if you're not working at 65, you need to start
Medicare now.
So if you or your spouse are no longer working,
you're going to need to begin Medicare at 65.
If you're on Social Security,
the card shows up, you're going to keep the card.
If you're not, you're going to have to self enroll.
You're going to do so at 65 based upon
those seven months that I just explained.
So if you're not working, you've got
to begin Medicare at 65.
The only people that don't start Medicare at 65
are those that are working or their spouse is working,
and they're covered
by an employer provided plan of 20 or more people.
All right.
Now secondly, here
you must self enroll, if not on Social Security.
And there's a process
that you'll have to follow.
You would go to SSA.gov
and set up a My Social Security account.
You then can enroll into Medicare.
Remember people
that are on Social Security are automatically enrolled,
but those of you that are not,
are going to have to take action.
You have to do the self enrollment. Now thirdly
Then you're also going to
have to decide at this time on other insurance,
very few people today have Medicare
A and B only most people don't like.
The risk of that or the financial liability.
So they would get other insurance products.
Those are called supplemental plans,
prescription drug plans or Advantage plans.
And you can begin to enroll in those who make all those decisions
as you're getting your Medicare
set up as well, so that your A and B begins
on the effective date and the other insurance
that you have also begins at the same time.
So you've got to make those other insurance decisions
during this same timeframe. All right.
Now the second group of you
or those people that are working
or your spouse is working
and you're covered by that employer-provided plan,
but that group has 19 insureds or less,
and you fall underneath a different set of rules.
And that's this.
Medicare says you've got a small group, 19 or less.
What will happen is Medicare A and B pays first
and your group plan is going to pay second to Medicare.
And so if you don't enroll into Medicare
and you have some kind of a large claim,
then that group plan is going to say no.
we're a small group plan.
You should have enrolled into Medicare
because we're only going to pay second to Medicare,
so you have to initiate that enrollment to be sure,
Medicare is in the first payer position. All right.
And so we encourage you to be sure
that you take initiative to enroll into Medicare A and B,
if you're in a group of 19 or less, put Medicare
in the proper payer position.
Now I will tell you this.
Most people that have to do this to go on
A and B because a small group, also drop the group plan
because what happens is that group
plans only going to pay second to Medicare
and normally their premiums are a little higher
and maybe the deductibles higher, and normally
that group plan is not as good a secondary payer
as what it has been as a first payer.
And so again, most people drop
the entire group plan totally and they go on Medicare A and B
and then at that time,
then they decide on other secondary insurance.
So you enroll,
in A and B you decide whether you want
an Advantage plan or a supplemental plan
or a prescription drug plan.
And all of those then are going to go along
with your Medicare coverage.
So most people in small groups actually will come out of
the group plan Totally.
All right,
then that brings us to our last group,
and that's
those of you that are working or your spouse
are still working at 65
and you're covered by a large group plan.
That means there's 20 or more insureds in the group.
And again, there's some very
different rules for you in these large group plans.
Number one, you don't have to do anything
you don't have to take A. You don't have to take B.
Now the problem is most you have heard
that you have to enroll into Medicare A at least,
or you're going to be penalized.
And folks, that's simply not true.
If Medicare A is free for you
because you or your spouse have 40 quarters
paid into the Medicare tax system,
A will be free for the rest of your life
so you will not be penalized if A is free.
All right, so you don't have to do anything.
Now, some of you may choose to go ahead and enroll into A only,
and that is not a bad decision unless you are contributing
to a health savings account that's called an HSA.
Those are not flexible.
Spending accounts they're not health
reimbursement arrangements, but only HSA's,
because if you enroll in A only
and you're contributing to an HSA,
you have to stop your contributions to your HSA.
And so I think there's wonderful benefits to HSA's.
So that's why I'm saying I wouldn't do anything
and just say, you know, pick up A and B at a later date.
But if you do take
it is fine as long as you're not contributing to an HSA.
All right.
And then thirdly,
some of you may decide
that you're going to roll and roll into A and B
and you just get off the group
plan and get other types of insurance.
And again,
we have people regularly
to call us and ask us to help him to evaluate
whether they should go on Medicare
while they're still working and many are today.
And the reason is that as they lay
those two options beside the group plan at work,
20 or more people or Medicare A and B with other insurance,
many times Medicare makes more sense.
Now, sometimes it doesn't.
As we evaluate the premiums in the coverage
and your medications and we lay those side by side,
sometimes a group plan will make sense
and people stay on that.
But other times
it will make sense to go on Medicare
and then you'll get other insurance products as well.
Again, drug plans, supplemental plans
or Advantage plans? All right.
So this is the process that you who are
in large group plans need to follow
to make sure that you're going on Medicare
at the right time.
Hey, thanks so much for watching the video,
and I do hope that it was helpful.
Now if you feel like
you need to learn more about Medicare
to make sure you're making the right Medicare decision,
really the best way and the easiest way to do
that is to go to MedicareSchool.com.
That's MedicareSchool.com,
and you'll be given the opportunity to be able
to click on Get the Free Workshop.
We call that the essentials workshop
and I do all the teaching.
And there you'll learn all the ins and outs of Medicare
to make sure that you have an accurate
and thorough understanding of how Medicare works.
The second thing you can do
is click where it says, talk to a Medicare guide,
and there
you can actually set up a time
where you can discuss your situation
with a Medicare guide.
They'll explain all your options
and actually even walk you
through the enrollment process as well,
if that's what you need to do.
And so go to MedicareSchool.com,
watch the workshop or talk to a Medicare guide.
It would be our privilege to assist you further.