Medicare Initial Enrollment Period Explained - YouTube

Hi Medicare Community. If you're aging into Medicare, don't go anywhere. In today's video,

we're going to talk about your Initial Enrollment Period.

Hi everyone. My name is Lindsay Engle, I’m the Medicare expert

for Elite Insurance Partners and MedicareFAQ.com. Now, Medicare

comes with many different enrollment periods

and it's important to understand the difference between each one.

Your Initial Enrollment Period is the first window of

opportunity you have to enroll in Medicare Part

A and Part B as well as Part D.

Your Initial Enrollment Period will be a 7-month window.

It begins 3 months before your 65th birthday will last the month through your birthday,

and continued 3 months after your birthday.

If your birthday happens to fall on the first of the month,

then your Initial Enrollment Period will begin the month before your 65th birthday.

For example, if your birthday happens to fall on July 1st,

then your Initial Enrollment Period will begin March 1st,

and your coverage will become effective one month earlier,

which would be June 1st. It's important to know that your

Initial Enrollment Period only comes around

once in your lifetime. The only exception is

for those who are collecting Social Security Disability Income.

Your Initial Enrollment Period will come around twice.

Your first Initial Enrollment Period will begin,

24 months after collecting Social Security Disability Income. Then when you turn 65,

you'll have another Initial Enrollment Period. During this enrollment window,

you can enroll in Original Medicare Parts A

and Part B as well as Part D.

When you enroll during your Initial Enrollment Period, you'll be able to avoid any late

enrollment penalties that may come with Part B and Part D

when you delay enrolling without having creditable coverage. Also during this enrollment window,

you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan. That's

because your Initial Coverage Election Period for Medicare Advantage

starts the same time your Initial Enrollment Period begins

for Part A and Part B.

Your Initial Coverage Election Period also will be a 7-month window

that begins 6 months before your 65th birthday.

Now, when it will end depends on when you enroll in Part B.

Your Initial Coverage Election Period will end the last month before you enroll in Part B,

or the last month of your Initial Enrollment Period. Now, when it comes to Medicare Supplements,

your Initial Enrollment Period is important because it will activate your Medicare Supplement Open Enrollment

once you enroll in Part B. When you enroll in Part B,

your 6-month window to enroll in a Medigap plan without having to answer any health questions will

begin. If you're collecting Social Security Income before you turn 65,

then you'll automatically be enrolled in both Part A and Part B.

When you age in at 65. Your Medicare card will arrive shortly

before your 65th birthday. If you're not collecting

Social Security by the time you turn 65, then you'll need to actively enroll in both

Parts A and Part B.

If you happen to be working

for an employer that has less than 20 employees, have retiree insurance or TRICARE.

Then you'll want to take advantage of your Initial Enrollment Period and enroll in Part A and Part B.

This is because your Medicare becomes primary

and your retiree Insurance, TRICARE, or employer coverage becomes secondary.

If you do not enroll in Part A and Part B

when you first become eligible, then you could be subject to paying

80% of your medical costs out of pocket.

If you're working for an employer that has more than 20 employees,

then your employer coverage will become primary. At this time

you have the option to enroll in Part A or Part B without incurring penalties

if you delay coverage. Now, most people still choose to enroll in Part A

since it’s premium-free for most. You can choose to delay enrolling in Part B and Part D

since your current employer group coverage will be considered creditable under Medicare

and you'll get a Special Enrollment Period

to enroll when you leave the group coverage. Now, if you happen to miss

your initial Initial Enrollment Period, you'll have to wait

until the General Enrollment Period to enroll in Part A

and Part B. This enrollment period occurs annually between January 1st and March 31st.

However, your coverage will not begin until July 1st.

This could leave you with a gap in coverage.

And if you went more than 12 months after your Initial Enrollment Period

you could start to incur late penalties

if you didn't have creditable coverage. If you happen to not enroll in a Part D

Prescription Drug Plan during your Initial Enrollment Period, the next opportunity you

have to enroll in a Part D plan would be the Annual

Enrollment Period. This enrollment period occurs annually between October 15th

and December 7th. Now to wrap it all up. Make sure you know

when your Initial Enrollment Period

is so you can avoid any late penalties as well as gaps in coverage.

If you have other coverage, it's important to know if it's considered primary or secondary coverage.

Make sure to know if your other insurance is considered creditable

so you can avoid any late penalties.

If you choose to enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan,

you still have to enroll in both Parts A and Part B.

Make sure to understand how your Initial Coverage Election Period works as well as when it ends.

Once your Part B is in effect, your Medicare Supplement 6 month

Open Enrollment Period will begin. During this time,

you can roll a Medigap plan without answering any health questions.

We'll make sure to include links to all the above points in the description below.

Thank you so much for taking time to watch this video today.

I hope you found it helpful,

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Bye.