Save Money by Delaying Medicare Signup?

[TromboneAl]

I was a good boy and signed up for Medicare on the month of my sixty-[-]first[/-]-fifth birthday.

I had been paying a lot less for my Obamacare coverage. Should I have delayed my Medicare signup to save money? If so, how long can it be delayed?

I ask because DW will be sixty-five in about a year.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I was a good boy and signed up for Medicare on the month of my sixty-first birthday. I had been paying a lot less for my Obamacare coverage. Should I have delayed my Medicare signup to save money? If so, how long can it be delayed?/QUOTE]

I thought you had to be 65 to get Medicare?

 

[Aerides]

I believe you are no longer ACA eligible once you are medicare eligible.

 

[Plantman]

I believe once you turn 65 you are no longer eligible for an ACA policy.

 

[MikeD]

Did you mean the first 'Medicare' to be SS?

 

[anethum]

I believe once you turn 65 you are no longer eligible for an ACA policy.

You can keep an ACA policy but you lose any premium tax credit (i.e. subsidy) as soon as you're Medicare eligible.

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

 

[Silver]

Perhaps he meant to type "sixty-fifth birthday" instead of "sixty-first"?

Numbers and typing are hard. Both together = almost imporssible

 

[Alan]

Perhaps he meant to type "sixty-fifth birthday" instead of "sixty-first"?

Numbers and typing are hard. Both together = almost imporssible

Especially once you get to Medicare age...

 

[TromboneAl]

I was a good boy and signed up for Medicare on the month of my sixty-first birthday. I had been paying a lot less for my Obamacare coverage. Should I have delayed my Medicare signup to save money? If so, how long can it be delayed?/QUOTE]

I thought you had to be 65 to get Medicare?

Sorry—typo!

 

[TromboneAl]

I believe you are no longer ACA eligible once you are medicare eligible.

You can keep an ACA policy but you lose any premium tax credit (i.e. subsidy) as soon as you're Medicare eligible.

Good to know. I no longer have to feel bad about wasting money.

 

[RetireBy90]

No idea what the impact would be on your previous health insurance or the ACA but my understanding is you can sign up for part A which is no additional cost and add part B for doctor visits later in open enrollment period. If you don’t enroll in part A in period 3 months before to 3 months after your 65th BDay, there is a penalty that goes on for rest of your life.

 

[omni550]

No idea what the impact would be on your previous health insurance or the ACA but my understanding is you can sign up for part A which is no additional cost and add part B for doctor visits later in open enrollment period. If you don’t enroll in part A in period 3 months before to 3 months after your 65th BDay, there is a penalty that goes on for rest of your life.

IIRC, Part D has a similar lifetime penalty, too, if you don't sign-up at 65 +/-3 mos.

omni

 

[FIRE'd@51]

If you don’t enroll in part A in period 3 months before to 3 months after your 65th BDay, there is a penalty that goes on for rest of your life.

I think you mean part B here. Part A is free.

 

[MikeD]

Sorry—typo!

What part was a typo? What was wrong and what should it have been?

 

[RetireBy90]

I checked medicare.gov and found

If you aren’t automatically enrolled, you can sign up for free Part A (if you’re eligible) any time during or after your Initial Enrollment Period starts. Your coverage start date will depend on when you sign up. If you have to buy Part A and/or Part B, you can only sign up during a valid enrollment period.

and

In most cases, if you don’t sign up for Medicare Part B when you’re first eligible, you’ll have to pay a late enrollment penalty. You'll have to pay this penalty for as long as you have Part B and could have a gap in your health coverage.

So I was wrong, you must sign up for Part B when you are 65 or there will be a penalty.



Browse at: https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/how-do-i-get-parts-a-b/part-a-part-b-sign-up-periods

 

[TromboneAl]

What part was a typo? What was wrong and what should it have been?

I meant to write "sixty-fifth" but wrote "sixty-first."

 

[CountryGal]

I checked medicare.gov and found

and



So I was wrong, you must sign up for Part B when you are 65 or there will be a penalty.



Browse at: https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/how-do-i-get-parts-a-b/part-a-part-b-sign-up-periods

My understanding is that this does not apply if you are still working and have coverage at work. Hubby is still working at 67 and has both Medicare part A and work insurance.

 

[Kwirk]

My understanding is that this does not apply if you are still working and have coverage at work. Hubby is still working at 67 and has both Medicare part A and work insurance.

But only if the company has 20+ employees.

 

[ncbill]

Sure you can skip signing up for Part B...had a relative who did that for several years to save money.

Their rationale was they never got sick, so why spend the money? (income was only SS, taken at age 62 because they had to do so)

Then they stared having bad back pain early in 2018...so I got them signed up for Part B, Plan G supplement & drug plan (not effective until July 1).

After several doctor visits the summer they ended up scheduled for spinal surgery around Labor Day.

Unfortunately, as it turned out their back pain was not a spinal issue, but a symptom of metastatic breast cancer, which proved to be terminal less than 6 months later.

And this relative had a history of breast cancer in her family, with her own mother undergoing a double mastectomy around age 60!

So is the OP sure they want to delay signing up for Part B?