Enrolling in Medicare

If your parents aren't receiving Social Security benefits, before they turn age 65 they have to apply for Medicare. Enrollment is not automatic. They should contact the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213 or apply at their nearest Social Security Office. Social Security offices can be located online.

The initial enrollment period for Medicare starts three months before an individual turns age 65, includes their birth month, and ends three months after their birth month.

If your parents are still working, they may not need to enroll in Part B when they turn age 65. If their employer has 20 or more employees and offers a group insurance plan that your parents participate in, the employer's group insurance becomes their primary medical coverage. Medicare would then take on a secondary role. In these circumstances, your parents can delay enrolling in Part B until they loose their employer coverage. This avoids duplication of Part B coverage and paying Part B's monthly premium. Your parents should check with Social Security to make sure that waiving enrollment in Part B is the right thing for them to do.

In the case where your parents don't qualify for Medicare because they didn't work enough years in Medicare covered employment, they can "buy into" Medicare. For Part A, the 2010 monthly premium is $461 if they have less than 30 quarters of Medicare covered employment. Those with 30 to 39 quarters would pay $254 monthly. Part B premiums start at $96.40 per month and can be as high as $353.60 depending upon what Medicare calls means testing.

If your parents are continuing their employer group coverage under COBRA, they should enroll in both Part A and Part B of Medicare during their initial enrollment period. Eligibility for Medicare after they elected COBRA continuation generally makes them ineligible to continue coverage under COBRA. Of course, if one parent is under the age of 65, they can remain on COBRA until their eligibility ends by virtue of either turning age 65 or exhausting their COBRA benefits.

Generally speaking, if you parents don't enroll in Medicare during their initial enrollment period they can enroll during general open enrollment. The general open enrollment period lasts from January 1st thru March 31st of each year enrollment becoming effective on July 1st of that same year. Medicare beneficiaries that delay enrollment in Part B are assessed a late enrollment penalty of 10% for each year they delay enrollment. This penalty is then applied for as long as they remain enrolled in Part B. If Part B enrollment was delayed because your parents chose to remain covered by their employer's group insurance, there would not be any penalty incurred as long as they enrolled within eight months of losing their employer coverage.

For more detailed information, please consult the Medicare handbook, Medicare & You. The handbook is available by contacting Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE or visiting the Medicare website at http://www.medicare.gov.

In addition, a copy is available at our website- http://www.waldenbrokers.com. Should you or your parents need assistance in selecting a Medicare plan, please feel free to contact us at 818-597-2890.

Edward Walden, CLU, RHU, REBC