If you're aging into Medicare, don't go anywhere. In today's video, we're going to talk about your Initial Enrollment Period.
Medicare comes with many different enrollment periods. It's important to understand the difference between each one. Your Initial Enrollment Period is the first window of opportunity you have to enroll in Parts A and B, as well as Part D.
Your Initial Enrollment Period is a seven-month window. It begins three months before your 65th birthday, lasts the month of your birthday, and will continue three months after your birthday. If your birthday happens to fall on the first of the month then your IEP will begin the month before your 65th birthday. For example, if your birthday is on July 1, your IEP begins on March 1, and your coverage will become effective on June 1.
It's important to know that your Initial Enrollment Period only comes around once in your lifetime. The only exception is for those collecting Social Security Disability Income, in which case, your IEP comes around twice. Your first IEP will begin 24 months after you first collect SSDI. When you turn 65, you will have another IEP.
During this window, you can enroll in Original Medicare (Parts A and B) and Part D. When you enroll during your IEP, you can avoid the late penalties that come with Part B and Part D when you don't have creditable coverage. You can also enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan during this window because your Initial Coverage Election Period for Advantage is also a seven-month window beginning six months before your 65th birthday and ending the last month before you enroll in Part B or the last month of your Initial Enrollment Period.
When it comes to Medicare Supplements, your Initial Enrollment Period is important because it will activate your Medicare Supplement Open Enrolment Period once you enroll in Part B. When you enroll in Part B, your six-month window to enroll in a Medicare Supplement plan without having to answer any health questions will begin.
If you're collecting Social Security Income before turning 65, you'll be automatically enrolled in Part A and Part B when you age in. If you're not collecting Social Security by age 65, then you'll need to actively enroll in Parts A and B.
If you work for an employer with fewer than 20 employees, have retiree insurance, or TRICARE, you'll want to take advantage of your IEP and enroll in Parts A and B. This is because your Medicare becomes primary and your other coverage becomes secondary. If you don't enroll in Parts A and B when you're first eligible, you could be subject to paying 80% of your medical costs out-of-pocket.
If you work for an employer with more than 20 employees, your employer coverage becomes primary. At this time, you'll have the option to enroll in Part A or B without penalties if you delay coverage.
Since Part A is premium-free for most, the majority of people choose to enroll in it. You can choose to delay enrolling in Parts B and D since your employer group coverage is considered creditable and you'll get a Special Enrollment Period when you leave it.
Now, if you happen to miss your IEP, you will have to wait until the General Enrollment Period to enroll in Parts A and B. This occurs annually between January 1 and March 31. However, your coverage won't begin until July 1. This could leave you with a gap in coverage. If you went more than 12 months after your IEP, you could start incurring penalties if you didn't have creditable coverage.
If you didn't enroll in a Part D plan during your IEP, the next opportunity you have is the Annual Enrollment Period. This enrollment period occurs each year between October 15 and December 7.
Youtube Video : https://youtu.be/ez15SApv8aE
Hi Medicare Community. If you're aging into Medicare, don't go anywhere. In today's video, we're going to talk about your Initial Enrollment Period. Hi everyone. My name is Lindsay Engle, Im the Medicare expert for Elite Insurance Partners and MedicareFAQ.com. Now, Medicare comes with many different enrollment periods and it's important to understand the difference between each one. Your Initial Enrollment Period is the first window of opportunity you have to enroll in Medicare Part A and Part B as well as Part D. Your Initial Enrollment Period will be a 7-month window. It begins 3 months before your 65th birthday will last the month through your birthday, and continued 3 months after your birthday. If your birthday happens to fall on the first of the month, then your Initial Enrollment Period will begin the month before your 65th birthday. For example, if your birthday happens to fall on July 1st, then your Initial Enrollment Period will begin March 1st, and your coverage will become effective one month earlier, which would be June 1st. It's important to know that your Initial Enrollment Period only comes around once in your lifetime. The only exception is for those who are collecting Social Security Disability Income. Your Initial Enrollment Period will come around twice. Your first Initial Enrollment Period will begin, 24 months after collecting Social Security Disability Income. Then when you turn 65, you'll have another Initial Enrollment Period. During this enrollment window, you can enroll in Original Medicare Parts A and Part B as well as Part D. When you enroll during your Initial Enrollment Period, you'll be able to avoid any late enrollment penalties that may come with Part B and Part D when you delay enrolling without having creditable coverage. Also during this enrollment window, you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan. That's because your Initial Coverage Election Period for Medicare Advantage starts the same time your Initial Enrollment Period begins for Part A and Part B. Your Initial Coverage Election Period also will be a 7-month window that begins 6 months before your 65th birthday. Now, when it will end depends on when you enroll in Part B. Your Initial Coverage Election Period will end the last month before you enroll in Part B, or the last month of your Initial Enrollment Period. Now, when it comes to Medicare Supplements, your Initial Enrollment Period is important because it will activate your Medicare Supplement Open Enrollment once you enroll in Part B. When you enroll in Part B, your 6-month window to enroll in a Medigap plan without having to answer any health questions will begin. If you're collecting Social Security Income before you turn 65, then you'll automatically be enrolled in both Part A and Part B. When you age in at 65. Your Medicare card will arrive shortly before your 65th birthday. If you're not collecting Social Security by the time you turn 65, then you'll need to actively enroll in both Parts A and Part B. If you happen to be working for an employer that has less than 20 employees, have retiree insurance or TRICARE. Then you'll want to take advantage of your Initial Enrollment Period and enroll in Part A and Part B. This is because your Medicare becomes primary and your retiree Insurance, TRICARE, or employer coverage becomes secondary. If you do not enroll in Part A and Part B when you first become eligible, then you could be subject to paying 80% of your medical costs out of pocket. If you're working for an employer that has more than 20 employees, then your employer coverage will become primary. At this time you have the option to enroll in Part A or Part B without incurring penalties if you delay coverage. Now, most people still choose to enroll in Part A since its premium-free for most. You can choose to delay enrolling in Part B and Part D since your current employer group coverage will be considered creditable under Medicare and you'll get a Special Enrollment Period to enroll when you leave the group coverage. Now, if you happen to miss your initial Initial Enrollment Period, you'll have to wait until the General Enrollment Period to enroll in Part A and Part B. This enrollment period occurs annually between January 1st and March 31st. However, your coverage will not begin until July 1st. This could leave you with a gap in coverage. And if you went more than 12 months after your Initial Enrollment Period you could start to incur late penalties if you didn't have creditable coverage. If you happen to not enroll in a Part D Prescription Drug Plan during your Initial Enrollment Period, the next opportunity you have to enroll in a Part D plan would be the Annual Enrollment Period. This enrollment period occurs annually between October 15th and December 7th. Now to wrap it all up. Make sure you know when your Initial Enrollment Period is so you can avoid any late penalties as well as gaps in coverage. If you have other coverage, it's important to know if it's considered primary or secondary coverage. Make sure to know if your other insurance is considered creditable so you can avoid any late penalties. If you choose to enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you still have to enroll in both Parts A and Part B. Make sure to understand how your Initial Coverage Election Period works as well as when it ends. Once your Part B is in effect, your Medicare Supplement 6 month Open Enrollment Period will begin. During this time, you can roll a Medigap plan without answering any health questions. We'll make sure to include links to all the above points in the description below. Thank you so much for taking time to watch this video today. I hope you found it helpful, and if you did don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Turn notifications on so you're notified each time we upload a new video. We also have a fantastic Medicare community on Facebook. Well also include a link to this in the description below so you can join today. And until next time. Bye.