Am I eligible for Medicare?
You are eligible for Medicare at 65 if you meet citizenship or residency requirements. You may qualify earlier with a disability, End-Stage Renal Disease, or ALS.
SECTION
Enrollment
When to sign up for Medicare, the windows that matter, and the penalties for missing them.
Can I contribute to an HSA on Medicare?
No. From the first month you are enrolled in Medicare your HSA contribution limit is zero, and the rule reaches backwards into any months Medicare backdates.
Can I delay Medicare Part B if I am still working?
You can delay Part B without a penalty if you have health insurance through your job or your spouse's job. COBRA and retiree coverage do not count, and that catches people out.
How to sign up for Medicare
You sign up through Social Security, not through Medicare. Applying online is the fastest way. Which form you need depends on your situation, and one of them has to be filled in by your employer.
Medicare General Enrollment Period
January 1 to March 31, every year: the sign-up window for people who missed their first chance and have no special circumstances. Coverage starts the month after you sign up, and a penalty can ride…
Medicare Part B late enrollment penalty
The Part B penalty adds 10 percent for each full year you could have signed up but did not, and for most people it lasts as long as Part B does. The protections are windows, and each has a clock.
Medicare Part D late enrollment penalty
The Part D penalty adds 1 percent per month of gap, priced on a national benchmark that changes yearly, for as long as you have drug coverage. It can be appealed, but you pay while you fight.
Medicare Special Enrollment Period after employer coverage ends
A Special Enrollment Period lets you sign up without a late penalty. There is more than one, they run on different clocks, and four common situations do not qualify for any of them.
Medicare Under 65 With a Disability
Medicare arrives on its own after 24 months of disability benefits, and it brings Part A and Part B with it. What it may not bring is a Medigap policy, because federal law does not require anyone to…
Medicare With ALS
There is no waiting period with ALS. Medicare arrives the same month your Social Security disability benefits start. And where the government pages stop, this page says so instead of guessing.
Medicare With Kidney Failure (ESRD)
Kidney failure opens Medicare at any age, and it is the one Medicare with an exit: it ends 12 months after dialysis stops, 36 months after a transplant. The clock in, the clock out, and the sign up.
Switching from employer insurance to Medicare
Your eight month window starts when the job or the plan ends, whichever comes first. Sign up at Social Security, and get the employer form started early because its timing is not yours.
What if I missed my Medicare enrollment deadline?
A missed deadline is recoverable on defined paths. Check the Special Enrollment Period list first, because those windows expire. The General Enrollment Period is the yearly fallback, and the penalty…
When do I sign up for Medicare?
Your Initial Enrollment Period lasts 7 months: the 3 months before you turn 65, your birthday month, and the 3 months after. When you sign up inside it changes when coverage starts.