Medicare

Economic Summaries

APPLY EARLY, or be PUNISHED SEVERELY
Here is a table which shows you the earliest that you can enroll in Medicare, and how individuals are punished, if they failed to register during their Initial Enrollment Period.





YOU MUST KNOW about your "Initial Enrollment Period".
If you don't, you get screwed. Nobody told me anything about this.

If you miss your IEP, you are punished 4 WAYS -
1. You will suffer a PENALTY of NO COVERAGE, until you ARE able to enroll, on the next January 1.
2. There is an EXTRA 3 to 6-month waiting period until your insurance will go into effect,
3. Your Part B premium will be increased by 10% (cumulative penalty), and
4. The earlier in the year your birthday is, the more you are punished.

can enroll      D

E -   8 months - Has to wait the longest

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

can enroll      D

E -  7 months wait, if deadline missed

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

can enroll      D

E - 6 months wait, if missed

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

can enroll      D

E -    5 months wait, etc.

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

-

can enroll      D

E -     4 months wait

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

-

can enroll      D

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

-

can enroll      D

E -2 mon.

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

-

can enroll      D

E -1

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

-

wait

wait

E

-

-

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

-

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

-

-

can enroll      D

wait

wait

E

Notes:

1. Your Initial Enrollment Period begins 3 months before your 65th birthday, and extends 3 months beyond your birthday.
2. You therefore have a 7-month window to enroll, before you are severely penalized.
3. The red D stands for your Deadline to enroll.
4. The red E stands for your Effective Date - when your insurance goes into effect
5. The General Enrollment Period (GEP) is January 1 through March 31 of each year.
6. January birthdays get penalized the most - an 8-month waiting penalty is imposed.
7. September, October, November, and December birthdays do NOT have to wait to enroll.
How fair is this? The penalty you receive is arbitrarily based upon your date of birth.
8. If you missed your IEP, and you apply in the next General Enrollment Period, an ADDITIONAL waiting period of 3-6 months is imposed before your insurance becomes effective - you must wait until July to be covered.
9. If you missed your IEP, your Part B premium will be raised by 10% - yet another penalty.
10. It only gets worse - if you miss your IEP, and then miss your first General Enrollment Period, you must wait 9 months, until the NEXT General Enrollment Period, to apply for enrollment, and your Part B premium goes up by 20%! AND, an ADDITIONAL waiting period of 3-6 months is imposed before your insurance becomes effective.

Medicare Initial Enrollment Period - Official Government Site

Medicare General Enrollment Period? - Official Government Site

My personal opinion? This is but one more area in which your government punishes you, in MULTIPLE ways, if you are not informed. And arbitrarily by birthday, too! Isn't that just great? Yeeaaa, Congress. Somebody should sue.
What do YOU think?

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100-900

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

35

65

Disclaimer
The author is not perfect, and errors can occur. I compiled the Medicare enrollment information above. Please check any questioned data for yourself, by visiting the official Medicare Website.
Determine your own personal, detailed initial enrollment period at the official Medicare website.

If you are knowledgable in this area, and you find any errors, report them to me, and I will fix them.

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