Medicare at 65 - How does this work?

[neurosis]

We have several employees here who are getting close to 65. Two are within a few months. 

They are confused about medicare requirements.  I"m guessing that you have to enroll in medicare if you're in a shop that has 20 employees or less? Does that mean that the employer has to drop your medical coverage? 

I'm glad that I still have a few years to go. Medicare doesn't sound all that great to me.

[JParis]

They are confused about medicare requirements.  I"m guessing that you have to enroll in medicare if you're in a shop that has 20 employees or less? Does that mean that the employer has to drop your medical coverage?

They must enroll at 65 or there "may" be a penalty for not doing so...at this point, they would be eligbile for Part A and Part B....the option to take Part B, which has a monthly cost, if they have a qualified plan through work, is optional...they are not required to caryy Part B if they have such a plan...

They "could" choose to drop their work plan and enroll in Part B but that is up to them and their specific situation.

https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/sign-up/when-does-medicare-coverage-start

[crazy^millman]

My mom did this for my dad years ago with supplemental plan and pay $65 a month. He was a Teamster for 30 years and retired with what was supposed to be paid medial till he died from Anheuser-Busch. That was until the Union through him and many other under the bus years ago when they sold it to a different company and they lost that and other benefits they had striked to keep that all got lost and the Teamsters could care less.

He has racked up $250k of medical bills in the past few years and it has only cost him $3k in costs. His monthly feeding formula through his feeding tube is $11k a month and with the supplemental plan cost him $0. They keep trying to get us to change his plan since he is grandfather in under the plan he has, but we keep telling them "to pound sand" as my friend Tim Markoski use to say.

[neurosis]

They "could" choose to drop their work plan and enroll in Part B but that is up to them and their specific situation.

I don't think that there is going to be a choice.  Our shop drops insurance coverage after 65.  I don't know if that is legal or not? I think that it is in a shop under 20 employees?

I believe, and I'm not 100% sure about this, but there is some kind of compensation, maybe in the form of a raise, that covers the cost of the upgrade to plan b? 

[mowens]

I didn't have to sign up. I still have insurance but the main reason is I have a health savings account. They asked if I had one and when I said yes they said I didn't  have to sign up. I'm not clear on the reason.
EDIT: If I enroll in Medicare I can no longer contribute to my HSA and that's what pays my $5000 deductible. I guess the government prefers i keep my private insurance

[gcode]

Before you hit 65 you should register for medicare
You can do it online, though .guv websites make it much harder than it needs to be
or you can do it at the local Social Security office.
You don't have to use it if you want to stay with your company insurance

Having said that, my mother in law is 91 and on Medicare
She has a supplemental policy and a prescription policy
I think she pays about $400/month for those

For 91, she's healthy, but she loves going to the doctor and drops in at the emergency room
for the slightest excuse.
She's had both hips and one knee replaced as well as a couple of heart surgeries.
She's spent months in rehabs and quarantine for covid at $25K per day
I'll bet she costs Medicare $1million+ a year, but with her supplemental plans, her out of pocket is near zero.
There is a whole industry built around taking care of old people and billing Medicare to do it.

[Smit]

I'm no expert but here's my understanding. They should enroll in medicare within 3 months before they turn 65, or 3 months after, to avoid a significant penalty that might stick with them for life. Shouldn't be a problem for them if they're going to be without healthcare at 65, they'll do it before.

Plan A doesn't cost anything (if you qualify, I expect your coworkers do) so it's really a no brainer but that's the end of the no brainer decisions. Most decisions following that are very dependent on each individual. How healthy you are, what prescriptions you have, etc. Even spouses might want to enroll in different plans because of their different circumstances.

I like Kiplinger retirement for gathering information. Here are a couple links, from these there are lots of other links to a wealth of information.

https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement

https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/medicare/603541/what-you-must-know-about-the-different-parts-of-medicare

Also the social security web site is a very good source of info. I'd suggest reading Kiplinger and then referencing social security. There's a lot to it and it can be convoluted so finding an investment source that specializes in retirement who can advise them along the way is not a bad idea.

[pmartin]

I just went thru this (I turned 65 in June) I am still working full time and am enrolled in my employers insurance. So I called Social Security and got the answer that no I did not need to enroll and would not face a penalty as long as nothing changed with my work.

I will add that I recently had to talk with my insurer who denied payment for blood tests. They expected Medicare to be my primary provider. It took about three phone calls but I did get it straitened out.

[neurosis]

I just went thru this (I turned 65 in June) I am still working full time and am enrolled in my employers insurance. So I called Social Security and got the answer that no I did not need to enroll and would not face a penalty as long as nothing changed with my work.

Do you work for an employer that has more than 20 employees?

[pmartin]

Do you work for an employer that has more than 20 employees?

Yes.

[Smit]

I just went thru this (I turned 65 in June) I am still working full time and am enrolled in my employers insurance. So I called Social Security and got the answer that no I did not need to enroll and would not face a penalty as long as nothing changed with my work.

Did they explain why there wouldn't be a penalty? A couple guys I talked to said they would be penalized if they didn't enroll within the 6 month window so I'm kinda confused.

[gcode]

so I'm kinda confused.

they make it confusing on purpose so people will pay experts retired government workers to show them what to do

[Del.]

I'll be signing up this year. Just turned 64.

[Incogneeto]

I'll be signing up this year. Just turned 64.

Wait!!! I'm Younger Than you?


BWAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAA .

OK...BWAHHHHHHHAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA

[neurosis]