Understanding The Different Parts Of Medicare

A. You are automatically eligible to enroll in Medicare at age 65. Your enrollment window is the seven-month period that begins three months before the month of your 65th birthday and ends three months after that. If you’re working at 65, you have a bit more time that the initial enrolment window to avoid premium surcharges. 

A. During the open enrollment period. The annual Medicare open enrollment period begins on October 15 and ends December 7. Open enrollment for 2020 coverage has ended. Open enrollment will begin again on October 15, 2020, for coverage changes effective in January 2021.

A. Yes. The best time to enroll is during your Medigap open enrollment period, a six-month window of time that begins on the first day of the month that you are at least 65 years old and are enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B.

A: Yes. During the Medicare open enrollment period from October 15 to December 7, you can switch between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, or vice versa. If you are already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can drop it and enroll in Original Medicare and a Part D plan during open enrollment, with coverage effective January 1.

A: While the Social Security and Medicare programs are interrelated, you do not need to be enrolled in Social Security in order to apply for Medicare.

A: Seniors are eligible to claim Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. However, doing so would lower your monthly benefits, potentially for the rest of your life. In order to receive full monthly benefits you are entitled to, you have to wait until full retirement age (66/67) to sign up for Social Security.

A: There are two options to choose from for Medicare prescription drug coverage. Both are offered through private health insurance carriers, since most outpatient prescription drugs are not covered under Medicare A or B. You can sign up for a Medicare Part D plan (prescription drug program, PDP) through a private carrier to be used with your Original Medicare plan (Medicare Part A and Part B). Or, you can enroll in prescription drug coverage through a Medicare Advantage plan provided by a private insurance company. Your coverage will include Medicare Part A and Part B, and usually, prescription drug coverage.

A: Medigap plans are Medicare supplement insurance plans and are standardized across all carriers. Meaning, a Plan A in California provides the same coverage as a Plan A in Florida. The only difference is the price you will pay for the plans through different providers. They are offered through private insurance companies that agree to abide by federal Medicare guidelines. Medicare supplement plans include A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N (not all plans are available in all areas). A person who is enrolled in Medicare cannot purchase a Medigap plan unless he or she also has Medicare Part A and B. Medigap policies only cover one person, joint policies are not offered. Therefore, a married couple will need two separate policies. Medigap plans cannot be used with Medicare Advantage.

A: No. Typical Medicare supplement plans do not include prescription drug coverage. However, Medicare does offer prescription drug coverage plans. If you are enrolled in Medicare, you can get prescription drug coverage in two ways; by switching to a Medicare Advantage plan (most of which include prescription coverage), or by purchasing Medicare Part D (prescription drug plan) which coincides with Original Medicare.

You may have prescription drug coverage through your Medicare Supplement plan if you purchased that policy prior to January 1, 2006 and still have the same plan. Medigap plans H, I, and J included limited prescription coverage for people who purchased them prior to 2006. However, those plans are not sold anymore. If this applies to you and you want to join a prescription drug plan, you will be required to drop the prescription drug coverage from your Medigap policy since you cannot have two separate prescription drug coverage policies at the same time.