Most people are grouped into one of two categories: People who receive their benefits through their employer, or people who privately purchase their own insurance.
Medicare can become active as of the first day of the month of your birth (e.g. Born on June 15th, Medicare will start on June 1st). If you are carrying insurance on your own, you will definitely want to keep your individual medical insurance plan active until the last day before you can start Medicare. At that point you will want to terminate your individual plan and transition onto the Medicare system.
If you are covered under an employer’s plan, you will have a decision to make. Should you stay with the employer’s coverage? Or perhaps get off of the group plan and get onto Medicare? This is part of the process where going over all of your coverage options and speaking to a professional are vitally important. You should never enroll in something without understanding the full implications of doing so.
Your Red, White& Blue Medicare card should automatically come in the mail about three months before your 65th birthday. It will have your name, Medicare claim number, and starting dates for Medicare printed on it. Medicare comes in two parts, Part A and Part B. If you choose to stay with your employer coverage after your 65th birthday, make sure to notify Social Security, and tell them to defer your Part B enrollment. You will then be able to activate the Part B later on down the road when you are no longer covered under your work benefits. The Part A will automatically start: Everyone begins Part A when they first turn 65 years old. Together, Parts A and B are called “Original Medicare” and they constitute the basic building blocks that the rest of the Medicare system is structured around.
Stay tuned for the next entry! We will be going over the specific benefits of what Parts A and B cover, as well as which types of insurance plans are available for purchase in Washington State.
