I turn 65 in October 2017. I am 99% sure that I will retire in 12/2019, maybe 01/2020 if to my advantage. I have employer provided insurance with BlueCross and I assume I will be covered until I retire (no reason to think otherwise). Upon retirement, I automatically get switched to my wife's plan, which is through TRS (she retired last year from teaching; of course with the issues TRS Retirement is having, who knows?)

Anyway, do I need to sign up for Medicare prior to my 65th b-day or do I wait until I retire? Not sure if it matters, but I have an IRA and a 401K (plus SS which I am not necessarily counting on a specific # from) in addition to my wife's pension that she is currently drawing from, plus her 403B which we wont touch until I retire, if then and only if needed (threw all that in since I don't know if finances play into Medicare at all).

Thanks for your comments.

AA

The way I understand it you have to sign up by age 65 in order to avoid some kinda penalty. You then inform them of your ongoing primary insurance via work and they suspend your Medicare coverage .
BUT please do not take internet advise, you absolutely should call the Medicare folks prior to your birthday and get the scoop.

I think the window goes a little bit past your 65th birthday but yes call and ask

As above. Yes sign up. They want to know your status(as you explained above) and can hurt you down the road if you don't.

I'm an independent licensed Life and Health agent and would be happy to discuss this and answer any questions. As long as there is current credible coverage you would not be penalized for not signing up for Medicare. However it still may be financially prudent to do so as you could get a Medicare Supplement tor pay for anything that Medicare covers for a monthly premium that may make more sense than your current or continuing coverage. You have "a golden opportunity" to sign up for Medicare and qualify for a Supplement during your guaranteed issue period which is 3 months before you turn 65 and the 3 months after your birth month. Feel free to email me @craigedmonds11@yahoo.com if you have any more questions.

Here's what Medicare.gov says about it::

Quote:

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I have employer coverage and:
I'm turning 65
If you aren't getting benefits from Social Security (or the RRB) at least 4 months before you turn 65, you'll need to sign up with Social Security to get Parts A and B. However, depending on the size of the employer, you may be able to delay Parts A and B without having to pay a penalty if you enroll later. Learn more about whether you should get Parts A and B.

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Even though there is a provision to delay signing up for Medicare and avoid the penalty from Medicare, you may still want to sign up at age 65. It is likely that your employer's insurance will require you to sign up for Medicare Parts A and B when you first become eligible, and your employer policy may even drop your coverage if you do not sign up for Medicare when they require.

There is no charge for Part A so you might as well sign up for that. But yes do contact Blue Cross to see if they require you to sign up for Part B. Getting your part B and getting a supplement may be your best choice but I'm not advising that without all the information of current coverage.

I'm no expert on this. I turned 65 in 2012 was still working with a BCBS policy partly paid by my employer. I signed up for my Medicare Part A that became primary. I retired in mid 2013. In 2012 I sold some property that had a decent capital gain on my taxes. I signed up for Part B after retiring in mid 2013. My Part B rate was very high because of work income in 2012-13 & the capital gain with a much reduced retirement pension after mid 2013. I protested the Part B payment rate based on income but you need IRS documentation, too. Finally after 2014 taxes at retirement income level, the Part B rate fell back where it should have been. Medicare Parts A&B are both primary now with my BCBS as secondary. I'm paying my Part of my BCBS and the Medicare Part B. My out of pocket costs have been minimal for office visits & two back surgeries. My BCBS pays for prescriptions, so I didn't do Part D. Just my info!