How To Get Medicare Without Social Security

When Can I Enroll In Medicare If I Am Not Receiving Retirement Benefits

If you are not yet receiving retirement benefits and are close to turning 65, you can sign up for Medicare Part A and/or Part B during your IEP. If you decide to delay your Social Security retirement benefits or Railroad Retirement Benefits beyond age 65, there is an option to enroll in just Medicare and apply for retirement benefits at a later time.

You Automatically Get Medicare When You Turn 65

• Well mail you a welcome package with your Medicare card 3 months before your Medicare coverage starts.

Sign up for Part B if you live in Puerto Rico or outside the U.S.You get Part A automatically. If you want Part B, you need to sign up for it. If you dont sign up for Part B within 3 months of turning 65, you might have to wait to sign up and pay a monthly late enrollment penalty.

How To Sign Up For Medicare Advantage: When Can I Enroll

Medicare Advantage, also known as Medicare Part C, is another way to receive Original Medicare benefits and is offered through private insurance companies that have contracts with Medicare. At minimum, all Medicare Advantage plans must offer the same Medicare Part A and Part B benefits as Original Medicare. Some Medicare Advantage plans also include additional benefits, such as prescription drug coverage. You must have Original Medicare, Part A and B, to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan through a private insurer.

You can enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan during two enrollment periods, the Initial Coverage Election Period and Annual Election Period.

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How Do I Get A Medicare Low

Many people dont realize theres a subsidy available to reduce Part D premiums and out-of-pocket costs for medications. People with Medicaid automatically qualify for the Extra Help subsidy.

However, you can obtain Extra Help, even if you dont qualify for Medicaid. When your income is low, a subsidy can help reduce Medicare premiums and other costs.

Third Option Temporary Travel Medical Insurance

If you have a VISA or will soon obtain a VISA, temporary travel medical insurance works as well. We work with all the major carriers here. There are options for every state. However, this is available for people with VISAs. Why? If you submit a claim, your VISA is supporting documentation and proves your lawful presence in the US.

However, travel medical insurance is temporary. Moreover, carriers explicitly state they do not cover chronic or pre-existing medical conditions.

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Is It Mandatory To Go On Medicare At Age 65

For some, not enrolling in Medicare can be a poor decision. But, some people wont receive a penalty for delaying enrollment. Lets take a look at a few different scenarios.

Factors that come into play:

Are you retired?

• If retired, you more than likely need to enroll at 65 years of age.

Are you still employed?

• If the company has fewer than 20 employees, you should enroll as soon as possible. If more than 20 employees, you may have options.

Are you happy with your employer group health coverage?

• If youre happy with your coverage, you can keep using it as your primary insurance and use Medicare as secondary insurance.

Your Initial Enrollment Period begins three months before your sixty-fifth birthday and ends three months after you turn 65. Thus, you have seven months to enroll.

If you choose to enroll after your Initial Enrollment Period ends, you could face a penalty. Or worse, delaying Part B could result in having to wait for the General Enrollment Period, which adds to the cost of your late penalty.

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When Is The Medicare Part D Annual Election Period

If you did not enroll in prescription drug coverage during IEP, you can sign up for prescription drug coverage during the Annual Election Period that runs every year from October 15 to December 7.

During AEP, you can:

• Sign up for a Medicare prescription drug plan.
• Drop a Medicare prescription drug plan.
• Join a Medicare Advantage plan that includes prescription drug coverage.
• Switch from a Medicare Advantage plan that doesnât include prescription drug coverage to a Medicare Advantage plan that does .

Outside of the Part D Initial Enrollment Period and the Annual Election Period, usually the only time you can make changes to prescription drug coverage without a qualifying Special Election Period is during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period but only if you are dropping Medicare Advantage coverage and switching back to Original Medicare. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs from January 1 to March 31.

Medicare Part A and Part B do not include prescription drug coverage, and if you switch back to Original Medicare during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, you will have until March 31 to join a stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan.

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Can I File For Medicare Without Social Security

This is a common question we receive in our social media pages and our Customer Service Helpline is a great question!

Social Security and Medicare are separate decisions, and you do not need to sign up for both programs at the same time. The Social Security full retirement age is currently 66, however, the Medicare eligibility age is 65.

Many people choose to take Social Security earlier than age 66, however the downfall of taking it earlier is a reduction in your monthly benefit. Some retirees will choose to take their Social Security even later in order to qualify for a larger monthly payment. Since the Medicare eligibility age is 65, if you wait until age 66 or later to claim your Social Security you will have to sign up for Medicare separately at age 65 unless you have other .

If you are not receiving Social Security benefits when you turn age 65 you will want to be sure that you sign up for Medicare as soon as you are eligible in order to avoid penalties. You first become eligible to sign up for Medicare during your Initial Enrollment Period, this is the seven month period that begins three months before your 65th birthday and ends the three months after your 65th birthday. Certain parts of Medicare carry penalties that may leave you paying higher premium amounts for the rest of your life if you do not enroll in Medicare on time.

If You Already Receive Benefits From Social Security:

If you already get benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board, you are automatically entitled to Medicare Part A and Part B starting the first day of the month you turn age 65. You will not need to do anything to enroll. Your Medicare card will be mailed to you about 3 months before your 65th birthday. If your 65th birthday is February 20, 2010, your Medicare effective date would be February 1, 2010.

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Can You Immediately Receive Medicare With Social Security

For those on Social Security Disability, Medicare enrollment will begin after 24 months of collecting benefits. The exception is when you have End-Stage Renal Disease or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis those conditions allow you to qualify immediately. If you dont collect Social Security, youll need to apply for Medicare yourself.

Employer Or Military Retiree Coverage

If you or your spouse has an Employer Group Health Plan as retiree health coverage from an employer or the military , you may not need additional insurance. Review the EGHPs costs and benefits and contact your employer benefits representative or SHIIP to learn how your coverage works with Medicare.

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Is Medicare Part A Mandatory

Technically, no Medicare Part A is not mandatory.

If you dont sign up for Medicare Part A, however, you must withdraw from all federal benefits programs. That means you cannot receive Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board benefits. You must also repay any benefits you have already received if you decline Medicare. This is one reason why most people keep their Part A coverage once their eligible.

You will qualify for premium-free Medicare Part A benefits if you worked and paid Medicare taxes for at least 10 full years .

Most beneficiaries qualify for premium-free Part A. Enrolling in Medicare Part A does not kick you off your existing health coverage.

Medicare works with other types of insurance, such as employer coverage, VA insurance and Tricare. If you are still working and have quality health insurance provided by your employer, you can have coordination of benefits to cover your health care costs.

• If your employer has fewer than 20 employees, Medicare will be the primary payer. That means Medicare will pay first for any covered care you receive, and then your employer insurance will pick up the rest of the services covered by that plan.
• If your employer has 20 or more employees, your employer insurance will pay first and Medicare will serve as the secondary payer to pick up any additional covered services.

Some Medicare beneficiaries have to pay a premium for their Part A coverage.

How Long Does It Take For Part D Premiums To Be Withheld

Be prepared for it to take up to three months from the time you request your premium be withheld before you start seeing the premiums withheld from your Social Security payment. In the meantime, youll receive a bill from your drug plan, and you will have to pay the premiums by check or electronic funds transfer.

The timing depends on when the plan gets your enrollment request. For example, if you enroll immediately during the Annual Open Enrollment Period, the request may be processed in time where premiums will be withheld from the start of your enrollment in the plan.

In cases where you didnt withhold premiums for one or two months after you enrolled in a Part D plan, or you enroll late in the Annual Open Enrollment period, youll get a bill for the months your drug plans premiums arenât withheld and youd have to pay those premiums directly to your drug plan.

Your drug plan will also let you know if there are any issues withholding premiums from your Social Security payment.

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Groups Not Covered By The Hold

Several groups are not covered by the hold-harmless provision. The following groups may receive reduced Social Security benefit payments due to Medicare premium increases that are greater than the Social Security COLA:

• New enrollees to either Medicare or Social Security 63
• Medicare Part B enrollees who do not receive Social Security benefits
• High-income individuals who pay income-related Medicare Part B premiums
• Low-income beneficiaries who are in a Medicare Savings Program .

Medicare Part B enrollees who do not receive Social Security may include individuals who spent their careers in employment that was not covered by Social Security, including certain federal, state, and local government workers. This includes civilian federal employees who were hired before 1984 and are receiving Civil Service Retirement System benefits. Although CSRS benefits are increased annually by the same COLA applied to Social Security benefits, the benefits are not Social Security benefits and thus its beneficiaries are not protected under the hold-harmless provision.64

Ways To Apply For Disability Benefits:

• If you or your spouse worked for a railroad, call the Railroad Retirement Board at 1-877-772-5772.

Once your disability benefits start, well mail you a welcome package with your Medicare card.

Sign up for Part B if you live in Puerto Rico or outside the U.S.You get Part A automatically. If you want Part B, you need to sign up for it. If you dont sign up for Part B within 3 months after your Part A starts, you might have to wait to sign up for Part B and pay a monthly late enrollment penalty.

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Can I Sign Up For Medicare Plans Online

Enrolling in Medicare coverage options online is generally easy and quick. More and more people are signing up online, according to an eHealth study. During 2018, about 16% of people in the study enrolled in Medicare coverage options online. Thatâs up from only 10% in 2017. In other words, about 60% more people in the study used eHealthâs online enrollment tool to sign up in 2018 than in 2017.

Itâs interesting to note that online enrollment was even higher during âQ4.â Q4 means the 4th quarter of the year, October through December. Thatâs when Medicareâs Fall Open Enrollment happens for Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug plans. Fall Open Enrollment goes from October 15 â December 7 every year.

Top 5 Things You Need To Know About Medicare Enrollment

1. People are eligible for Medicare for different reasons.

Some are eligible when they turn 65. People under 65 are eligible if they have received Social Security Disability Insurance or certain Railroad Retirement Board disability benefits for at least 24 months. If they have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , theres no waiting period for Medicare. Some people with End Stage Renal Disease may be eligible for Medicare. Its important to know the different ways that people qualify for Medicare so you can help current and former employees and their dependents anticipate their eligibility for Medicare so they can make timely and appropriate decisions about their enrollment.

2. Some people get Medicare Part A and Part B automatically and some people need to sign up for them.

People living in the United States and U.S. Territories who are already collecting Social Securityeither disability or retirementare automatically enrolled into Part A and Part B when theyre first eligible. These people will get a packet of information a few months before they turn 65 or receive their 25th month of Social Security Disability or Railroad Retirement Board benefits. At that time, they can choose to keep or decline Part B, but cant decline Part A unless they withdraw their original application for Social Security and pay back all Social Security cash benefits.

3. Enrolling in Medicare can only happen at certain times.

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Signing Up For Medicare Part D At 65 If Youre Still Working

To make sure you have prescription medication coverage, you need either from work, Medicare Part D, or a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage. Your employer can tell you if your workplace coverage is creditable, meaning its as good as or better than Part D.

Once you , you could lose your workplace prescription coverage and you may not be able to get it back.

If you dont have either and you dont enroll in Part D on time, youll pay higher Part D premiums.

Do Seniors On Social Security Have To Pay For Medicare

Social Security and Medicare are both federal programs, so itâs easy to see why they would intersect somehow. Because individuals have to pay their dues for Medicare, most plans are income dependent.

While Medicare Part A is normally $0 premium, Medicare Parts B and D require monthly payments that are based on an individualâs household income.

To determine the amount that an individual owes for Medicare, Social Security analyzes their income and benefits from the past two years, on an individual basis.

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Examine Atentamente Su Factura

El tipo de factura de Medicare que recibe muestra si está en riesgo de perder su cobertura Medicare por pagos atrasados:

Todas las facturas de Medicare vencen el dÃa 25 del mes. En la mayorÃa de los casos, la prima se debe pagar el mismo mes en que se recibe la factura. Por ejemplo, Medicare ejecuta la factura de abril el 27 marzo. Recibirá la factura a principios de abril y vence el 25 abril.

Medicare Without Social Security: 3 Enrollment Periods You Need To Know

Many people believe that you have to file your Social Security benefits to enroll in Medicare. However, its not true. You can enroll in Medicare irrespective of the status of your Social Security benefits. However, there are a few factors that vary.

The Social Security retirement age for most baby boomers is 66, and you get a relatively lesser monthly payment if you claim at an early age. Consequently, some retirees delay requests to qualify for larger monthly payments later in retirement.

However, the Medicare eligibility age is 65 years. So, if you want to wait until you become of age 66 or older to claim Social Security, you must register for Medicare separately at age 65.

Here is what you need to know about registering for Medicare before claiming Social Security:

• Both are separate decisions.
• Some people are automatically enrolled in Medicare.
• Remember to claim for Medicare on time.
• Registering for Medicare after missing the initial registration period may result in penalties.
• Working beneficiaries can avoid Medicare late enrollment penalties.
• Be prepared for the Medicare bill.
• Dont wait until age sixty-five to start researching your Medicare plans.

In addition, for each year you wait to claim social security beyond your full retirement age, your monthly benefits will increase by 8% . In most cases, this means that individuals who plan to increase their Social Security benefits will end up enrolling in Medicare before claiming Social Security.

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