“I wish I had known about the Medicare Coach last year when I spent TWO HOURS on the phone with a guy who explained everything step by step and then signed me up for Medicare A & B along with my supplemental insurance.”
This is how Cindy started her email. I knew the rest wouldn’t be good…
She continued, “For 14 months, I thought I had Medicare coverage, but I didn’t. To add insult to injury, I will now have to pay a 15 – 30% fine for my Part B for the rest of my life. ”
I hate reading emails like this because this situation could have easily been avoided.
Cindy is saying that whoever she spoke to on the phone didn’t give her the whole story or make sure she knew what she needed to do. She thought she was in good hands, and she wasn’t. And unfortunately, Cindy didn’t enroll for Medicare on time and now has to pay a Part B penalty for the rest of her life.
Cindy isn’t alone. We hear stories like this all time, and luckily some come to us before it’s too late.
In this blog post, I want to take the opportunity to make sure you understand what you need to do when you turn 65 so that you can avoid costly penalties like Cindy.
As most of you probably know by now, when you turn 64, you began to get bombarded with Medicare ads in the mail, in emails, phone call after phone call.
However, that doesn’t mean that you should apply for Medicare at 64.
One critical first step in determining when to enroll in Medicare is knowing when you want Medicare to start.
Most people will join Medicare when they turn 65. It’s important to note that Medicare is effective on the first day of their 65th birthday month.
However, there are exceptions to this.
You can technically join Medicare before you turn 65 if you qualify under specific Social Security disability rules. You can also delay joining Medicare after you turn 65.
For people who are either working and covered through an employer insurance plan that meets Medicare rules (including your spouse’s employer or retiree plan that meets Medicare rules), that might end up having you delay Medicare.
My point is, in order to decide when to enroll in Medicare, you have to set when do you want your Medicare to start.
I hope that clears up some of the confusion. If you have any questions, reply to this email, and I can get them answered.
To easily make the right Medicare decision you can CLICK HERE to sign up for our Medicare Enrollment Concierge.
