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Find your enrollment windows and what to do next.
Find your enrollment windows and what to do next.
This tool sorts out one thing. Which Medicare enrollment window is open for you, and which deadline you cannot afford to miss.
Medicare is not a single sign up date. It is a set of windows. Miss the one that applies to you and two things can happen. Your coverage may start months later than you wanted. You may also pay a higher Part B premium for the rest of your life.
Your Initial Enrollment Period runs seven months. It covers the three months before your birthday month, that month, and the three months after.
The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 to December 7. That is when you can join, switch, or drop an Advantage or Part D plan.
A Special Enrollment Period can open when you lose employer coverage or move. These windows are short, so act quickly.
The sign up date and the start date are not the same thing. Enroll in one of the three months before your birthday month, and coverage usually starts on the first of that month. Enroll later in the window and the start slides to the first of the following month. Plan around the start date, not the deadline.
Part B and Part D carry separate penalties. One is added to your medical premium and the other to your drug premium. They are figured differently, and you can trigger one without triggering the other.
Employer size drives the answer here. At a larger employer, group coverage often lets you delay Part B without a penalty. At a small employer, delaying can be a costly mistake. Ask your benefits office whether your plan counts as creditable coverage. Get that answer in writing.
What your answers tend to mean
Signing up early in a window only means coverage starts sooner. Being past a window does not always mean a penalty. Some people have a Special Enrollment Period and never knew it. That is worth checking rather than assuming.
Bring your Medicare card, your employer plan papers, and your drug list to a licensed agent. Plan availability and benefits vary by plan and area, and they can change. Check your own dates at medicare.gov or ssa.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE.
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