Companies with 20 or more employees must continue to offer health insurance to current workers and their spouses over the age of 65. If you're insured by a plan from a company of that size, you have the option of enrolling in Medicare and rejecting your group plan, but the employer can't force you to make this decision. Enter your zip code to see what plans are available in your area. If you're happy with your coverage through employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), delaying enrollment in Medicare could save you money on Medicare Part B premiums. If you delay enrollment in Medicare, keep your HSA-qualified health plan, and continue to contribute to your HSA, it's important to understand that when you later enroll in Medicare, your enrollment in Part A will be delayed up to six months.
Therefore, you'll have to stop making contributions to the HSA to know when it will be. You should discuss this with your employer before you qualify for Medicare so you know exactly what you need to do to maintain adequate coverage. If your group health plan is sponsored by an employer with 20 or more full or part time employees and you maintain your group plan coverage and also enroll in Medicare, the group plan will be your primary payer and Medicare will be your secondary payer. This is a scenario where you may decide to delay enrollment in Part B.
Your Marketplace plan will not be automatically canceled when you turn 65 and enroll in Medicare. However, you will lose the requirements to receive tax credits for premiums from that plan once your Medicare78 coverage begins, making it difficult for those who rely on their tax credits for premiums to manage premiums. If you have to pay a premium for Medicare Part A, you can keep your Marketplace coverage and continue to receive income-based premium subsidies (tax credits for premiums)). However, this doesn't apply to most people, since 99% of Medicare beneficiaries don't have to pay a premium for Part A.
9 Even if you qualify to continue receiving a subsidy for the premium for Marketplace coverage, you should know the Medicare late enrollment penalty that would apply if you ever changed your mind and decided to enroll in Medicare. Unlike employer-sponsored group health insurance, keeping coverage in an individual market plan doesn't make a person eligible for a Medicare special enrollment period later on. And for people who have to pay a premium for Part A, the late enrollment penalty would apply to both Part A and Part B. 10 You can't add your family to your Medicare coverage.
Here's a list of your coverage options once you've signed up. This example shows that it may be more cost-effective to keep your employer's health insurance instead of switching to Medicare when you turn 65, since employer insurance generally covers more costs than Medicare. That's why you may not need to have Medicare in addition to your employer's insurance. Sometimes it's best to delay enrollment in Medicare until retirement.
Depending on where you live, you may have several options for coverage until you qualify for Medicare, such as COBRA coverage or state continuation, a private plan that meets the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, or a lower-cost plan that doesn't have to follow ACA rules, such as a short-term medical policy (STM). While working after age 65 can help you save more for retirement, you could receive an inadvertent penalty for not enrolling in Medicare at the right time. If you're enrolled in Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) coverage, your plan may only pay a small portion of your medical costs once you're eligible for Medicare. In some cases, private insurers can reduce the amount they pay for services once you're eligible for Medicare.
However, you should know that if you choose to use COBRA for your insurance for more than eight months (COBRA coverage can last up to 18 months), you could incur significant fines in the form of higher premiums for missing the special enrollment period and enrolling late. in Medicare. In addition, if you have to buy Part A and don't buy it when you first qualify for Medicare, your monthly premium may increase by 10% for each 12-month period in which you could have had Part A but didn't sign up. Some private insurance companies have rules that lower what they pay (or don't pay at all) for the services you receive if you're eligible for other coverage, such as Medicare.
Resources For Living is not available to members of Aetna Part D plans (by prescription only), dual eligibility plans for special needs (D-SNP), special needs plans for chronic diseases (C-SNP), institutional plans for special needs (i-SNP), or Medicare supplement plans.
