So do the same special enrollment rules apply for supplements that apply to Part B?
Yes. If done properly, your special enrollment period will have the same characteristics as an
initial enrollment period.
Your DW's employer should send you a letter that specifies that the group plan that you are on with them qualifies as suitable insurance in lieu of Medicare, as long as you are on it. If you are well into your 64th year and have not received such a letter, request one.
It is important that the insurance you are on is suitable, otherwise the penalty will apply forever when you join Medicare. NOT SUITABLE, as an example, is COBRA coverage. The person holding the insurance (your DW, in this case), must be employed and have the insurance. COBRA is not employed.
Medigap supplemental plans, like Plan F, G, N, etc. follow the same rule, as they follow the rules of Medicare.
For safety, get the letter, get it in print, not a phone call answer. I have heard of some employee spousal coverage that required the spouse to sign up for Medicare Part A (Hospitalization), when he/she reached age 65. The employment plan covered everything else.
If you have not done so, compare the total costs of you going off onto Medicare by yourself, versus staying on DW's insurance. It's possible that DW, dropping back to employee-only coverage without you, may drop the employment insurance so much, that the overall cost may be significantly cheaper, even with you picking up Medicare and a Medigap Plan plus a Part D Drug Plan (or Medicare Advantage Plan in lieu of Medigap + Drug Plan). It happens in cases where the family or spousal employment insurance plans subsidize the single worker insurance. Like keeping a teacher's working insurance cost low... then sock it to adding spouse or family. I have seen worker + spouse at 10 times the premium of just worker alone!
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