Medicare Enrollment

When it comes to enrolling in Medicare, sooner is better. Take advantage of your windows of opportunity. Here you will get a detailed look at when you can join, as well as what we can do from our end.

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Enrollment is exclusive

Medicare enrollment is time-sensitive in both ways – for you, and the time of the year.

Unless you’re getting disability benefits for at least 24 months, you will have to wait until you’re nearing your 65th birthday before you can enroll in Medicare. There is no action needed on your part if you’re already receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board benefits – you automatically receive a Medicare card roughly three months before you turn 65. Someone in this situation is automatically enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B, which is known as Original Medicare. However, other forms of Medicare such as Medicare Advantage and Part D (Medicare’s prescription drug plan) would require separate enrollment.

Those who aren’t getting Social Security, Railroad Retirement Board or disability benefits will have to enroll on their own when they are nearing their 65th birthday.

Enrollment Periods

If you’re not getting benefits that result in automatic enrollment, you will have a few options based on when you decide to join.

The first and best possible time to join is during the Initial Enrollment Period. There’s no specific date for this because it’s based on your birth month. It includes the month you turn 65, and the three months both before and after it. The benefit here is that you won’t have to deal with any late fees. Your Medicare Part A premium may be free of charge, too, provided you’ve worked in the U.S. long enough to have paid taxes for a minimum of 40 tax quarters. This is also the one way you won’t have to deal with late enrollment penalties.

Medicare takes individual circumstances into account because some have a valid reason for not joining Medicare during their Initial Enrollment Period. If you’re employed at a company with at least 20 employees, and you’re getting health insurance through your employer, then you can wait to join without penalty. Starting the month after your employment or coverage ends (whichever comes first), you have eight months to enroll.

Next is General Enrollment. This is from January 1 to March 31, with coverage effective July 1. You can join this if you’ve missed out on your Initial Enrollment Period. You’ll likely have late enrollment fees, which are calculated based on the number of years you have gone without joining when first eligible.

This final period mentioned applies to Medicare Advantage. If you chose to join Medicare Advantage during the Initial or General Enrollment Period, you can choose to drop it in favor of switching to Original Medicare (Parts A and B) anytime between October 15 and December 7. However, you cannot switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage during this time.

We enroll

Enrolling may be limited to certain times during the year, but our help is available year-round. We provide our services straight from our office in Wichita, Kansas.