Canceling ACA Insurance When Starting Medicare

[Donno]

I've been searching the Internet and can't seem to find a consistent answer. I am on an ACA health insurance plan and start Medicare on December 1st. My question is when do I make my ACA insurance cancel date effective, November 30 or December 1? I know the chances of going without coverage for a day has minimal risk, but with my luck I'd get in a car wreck on November 29th and have $1M worth of surgery on the 30th. I don't want to have coverage on the first either and end up paying for a month worth of coverage for December.

 

[Sarah S]

It really really depends on your state. I have seen people post different things. If you are on the federal exchange you will probably get more people who have done this there. In Massachusetts I had to cancel by May 23 but my aca insurance continued until midnight May31/June 1 which is of course what is needed. I know my aca insurance remained in effect for the month. I could see it on the insurance and aca websites.

 

[CRLLS]

When I did it 5 years ago, I called Healthcare.gov to schedule it to be cancelled in the futre. I was told by healthcare.gov to cancel it on the last day of the month I wanted coverage. SO I waited. Then I called on that last day to cancel and was told I should have called some time earlier. As a result, I had one month of dual coverage (and dual premiums), which I think is illegal. Whatever! Fortunately, I had no medical services that month or there would have been a lot of finger-pointing. Good luck. It seems that most people have no real issue in the changeover.

 

[Sue J]

We went through this in 2020. I called ahead of time and they told me to call back on the first of the month. This is the first of the month that Medicare started. Medicare started on Feb 1st for my birthday later in the month.

You want your cancellation effective date to be the 1st. I'm pretty sure that my ACA premium that I prepaid in January was later refunded.

FYI, the customer service for HealthCare.gov is open 24/7/365. Maybe not holidays, but they are full service.

When you cancel you want to do this with a person on the phone. Do not do this online.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

I called the Marketplace on June 30th this year. Medicare started July 1st. Worked.

 

[Donno]

Wow, so it sounds like a cluster for everyone. Thanks for the replies, I am going to just call and speak to a representative and tell them I want coverage until Medicare starts on the first and see what they do.

 

[camfused]

Donno, I suppose what you really care about is if you cancel ACA on 1 December, and MC starts on 1 December, do you get a rebate from ACA for most of December or do you have to eat a whole month of ACA payment.

 

[Donno]

Donno, I suppose what you really care about is if you cancel ACA on 1 December, and MC starts on 1 December, do you get a rebate from ACA for most of December or do you have to eat a whole month of ACA payment.

That's about it, I suppose. I just don't want a lapse in coverage even for 1 day and I also don't want to pay a month's premium ($856) when I don't need to.

 

[Rianne]

ACA also told me to call on the 1st of the month (Sept, next month). When I called my insurance co, Health Alliance they said to cancel your automatic payment. When you don't pay your ACA premium on the 1st of the month, your HI is canceled through the HI company but has nothing to do with ACA. My DH is on our plan and I'm the primary on the plan. Thus, a life change and some complications.

I made an appt. with a local broker. I think what will happen, is the broker will put DH on a new plan or he will continue on our plan as the primary. We will prepay his Sept. 1 premium with the broker to the HI co. I'll call in on the 1st to ACA to make sure I'm off. What a hassle! We're in IL. You'd think they would make you whole until the end of the month rather than say it's immediate when you call and cancel. Does not make sense.

Edit: What makes this process complicated is the subsidy vs the HI premium. The subsidy is with ACA, and the premium is with the HI co. When my DH gets his own ACA policy, the subsidy changes, the premium also changes. If I just call in on the 1st how does all that get fleshed out? How do they know what plan he should be on? What if he wants to change plans? Cluster F--k.

 

[sengsational]

The bottom line is to call early and call often. You can't do it online without a snafu.

Here's another thread, if you're interested in how I did it wrong.

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/aca-to-medicare-process-113029.html#post2735066

 

[Rianne]

Wow, I just met with our ACA broker who signed us up for the ACA years ago. She called her broker to verify what we should do. He said to cancel on the 31st of August.

I decided to verify with an ACA supervisor. I called ACA got a very pleasant and helpful agent who said to cancel on the 1st of Sept. that way I'm covered, and DH is covered until the end of August. I very politely asked to speak to a supervisor as I've gotten several conflicting answers to this complicated issue. I"m concerned about the subsidy, but not so concerned about the insurance premium.

The supervisor specifically said to cancel on the 1st. The ACA plan and the insurance company will calculate everything, see that you called on the first, and adjust the premium and the subsidy for DH to continue with the plan.

My issue with this, is we'll be in Montana, if something happens to me on the 31st, god forbid, do I have insurance for that day? It is my understanding from the supervisor at ACA, that coverage ends immediately for the person leaving the plan (as a life change) and would continue for DH left on the plan. Our income as MFJ remains the same so the new subsidy would be based on DH alone. The subsidy would decrease, and he would pay a higher premium. Supervisor said they'll flesh all that out.

 

[Beldar]

We went thru this in May.

Cancelling ACA & starting Medicare (and associated supplements) was easy, as others have mentioned above. Both my ACA health and dental providers refunded the overlapping months premiums in about 4-5 weeks.

_B

 

[teejayevans]

Be nice if you could cancel via website.

 

[zinger1457]

Be nice if you could cancel via website.

According to healthcare.gov you can do it online although most here seem to suggest you should call instead. Has anyone had problems using the online cancellation? Below are the steps if cancelling for everyone on your plan, seems straight forward, just follow the instructions and input the date you want to end coverage. Probably more complicated if not cancelling for everyone listed on your plan, they have separate instructions for that. I'm going to have to cancel my plan effective 1 Nov. when I go on Medicare.

https://www.healthcare.gov/medicare/changing-from-marketplace-to-medicare/

Ending coverage for EVERYONE on your Marketplace plan when you're eligible for Medicare
(whether there's only one person on the plan or multiple household members)

Log into your Marketplace account.
Click “Start a new application or update an existing one.”
Click on your name in the top right of the screen, and select “My applications & coverage.”
Select your application under “Your existing applications.”
On the left, select “My Plans & Programs.”
Select the red button “End (Terminate) All Coverage” at the bottom.
Select the date you want to end your coverage.
Check the attestation box.
Click the red “Terminate Coverage” button.

 

[Donno]

One would think there would be an option saying "I'm starting Medicare, cancel my ACA coverage when it starts" option on xx/01/2022 or whatever the current year is. Heaven forbid the government could be organized enough to make something that affects thousands of people each and every month a painless transition.

 

[pirsquared]

I wonder if it makes a difference whether you "cancel" or "report a life change." Cancellation happens immediately but a life change goes into effect at the start of the next month. When my DH started Medicare on June 1, I was told conflicting things. When I called on May 31, I was told that it would happen immediately and I should call back on the 1st. When I called back on June 1, the rep went through the whole "life change" application process and then said it would be effective July 1. I had to talk to a supervisor to get it changed back to June 1.

Now my DD will be starting new insurance on Sept. 1 and I have to go through this process again. I called last week and said that I really wanted to make the change online and when should I do it. They said August 31. I do not plan to hit the "cancel" button at all. I plan to go through the "life change" process just like I have done before with a change in income, which is always effective the next 1st of the month. Hopefully this will work. If not, I will call.

 

[sengsational]

The skeptic in me says that the insurance company wants a month overlap with Medicare, so, somehow, the obvious "I'm going on Medicare on ___mm/dd/yyyy_____" function somehow never got added.

 

[Rianne]

Somehow, the process keeps getting more complicated. I called our health insurance company, Health Alliance, which gave me the most up-to-date info. Apparently, at least for Illinois, the process changed. She said to call ACA on the 1st. I will be immediately canceled and DH will start his new policy Sept.1 (my start date of medicare). The premium I paid for Sept. will be refunded or added to DH's new policy. It is a new policy, not a continuation of our policy. She said to call in the morning. The changes happen almost immediately and I want to make sure I'm covered for the full day of August 31.

Some of the confusion on this thread is about whether or not there are dependants continuing with ACA. If you're the only one on the policy, you can cancel the 30th or 31st of the previous month. It gets messy when someone else on that policy is continuing coverage on the ACA.

 

[RunningBum]

These threads are helpful, even though I'm still a few years out. I've already got a calendar reminder for 3 months before I'm eligible for Medicare to sign up for it. Now I've added a reminder in the middle of the month before to stop my ACA auto-payment, and on the 1st to cancel ACA. Hopefully it is simpler by then, but I'm not counting on it. Y'all let me know if things change, OK?

 

[bobandsherry]

One would think there would be an option saying "I'm starting Medicare, cancel my ACA coverage when it starts" option on xx/01/2022 or whatever the current year is. Heaven forbid the government could be organized enough to make something that affects thousands of people each and every month a painless transition.

Seems so simple, yet remains overly complicated and confusing.

 

[MBSC]

Be nice if you could cancel via website.

Pro tip: The younger spouse, who will be using the ACA longer, should be the owner when first creating a federal Marketplace account. Then, for the year the older spouse starts Medicare, choose two individual plans instead of a family plan. The older spouse clicks the red terminate button when it's time to end their plan. The younger spouse continues to be enrolled in their plan as the account owner. The younger spouse clicks the red button when they start Medicare.

Creating 'groups' for multiple plans (pages 21-23): https://marketplace.cms.gov/technical-assistance-resources/plan-compare-walkthrough.pdf

Scenario #2
Q: A consumer wants to terminate coverage through the Marketplace for himself and the rest of his family or enrollment group. What should he do?

A: If no enrollees in the group need to keep their coverage, the consumer should follow the “End Coverage” process [not "Report a Life Change"]. Generally, to avoid a gap in coverage, [these] consumers should submit their termination request the day before their new coverage is effective. For example, if new coverage will start on May 1, [these] consumers should terminate their existing coverage on April 30. If they wish, consumers can also set a future Marketplace coverage end date, if they know when their new coverage will become effective.

(Page 31): https://marketplace.cms.gov/technic...s/terminating-plans-and-reporting-changes.pdf

 

[sengsational]

I agree that creating groups makes a lot of sense. You loose the family deductible, but that's not something that many people get any benefit out of anyway.

 

[Rianne]

Canceled ACA and continued coverage for DH on Sept. 1. All went well and this is a new procedure according to my ACA insurance co. Health Alliance. Just be sure to verify dependent or others on ACA will be continuing with a new plan.

 

[pirsquared]

Canceled ACA and continued coverage for DH on Sept. 1. All went well and this is a new procedure according to my ACA insurance co. Health Alliance. Just be sure to verify dependent or others on ACA will be continuing with a new plan.

Glad it went well! My DD started new insurance through a job on Sept. 1 and this time the transition went smoothly. I submitted a "life change" online on August 31 and it immediately showed everything correctly in the "coverage history": DH, DD, and I through 5/31, DD and I only 6/1 to 8/31 (DH started Medicare on 6/1), and me only starting 9/1.

I should have done it this way when DH switched to Medicare in June, which would have worked as I am primary on the account. Instead, I called on 5/31 and they were going to do a "cancellation" and thus said I should call back 6/1. I called back 6/1 and they did a "life change" which is always effective the following month, thus the problem. If the 5/31 rep had know to do a "life change" or the 6/1 rep had known to do a "cancellation," it would have saved a lot of hassle. Instead, I had to get a supervisor to fix it and an early June claim went through wrong.

 

[Murf2]

I was told the same thing by MediCare. Call on the first day of the month, which I did.
I noticed BCBS had taken my September premium out of my bank account.

I called BCBS to see about it. They said the coverage should have been canceled on the last day of October. No refund, I have BCBS & MediCare for a month. I thought it sounded wrong when MediCare told me to wait till the first.
I hope yours turns out better than mine!

Murf