Your Initial Enrollment Period: 7 months
It starts 3 months before the month you turn 65, includes your birthday month and ends 3 months after.
If you sign up before your birthday month, coverage usually starts on the first day of the month you turn 65.
Are you enrolled automatically?
If you already get Social Security (or Railroad Retirement Board) benefits at least 4 months before you turn 65, you are enrolled in Part A and Part B automatically. Your Medicare card arrives by mail about 3 months before your birthday.
If you do not get those benefits yet, you sign up with Social Security: at ssa.gov, by phone or at an office.
If you or your spouse are still working
If you have health coverage from your current job or your spouse's, and the employer has 20 or more employees, in many cases you can wait on Part B without a penalty.
When that job or that coverage ends, you have 8 months to sign up for Part B without a penalty.
COBRA and retiree coverage do not count as coverage from a current job. Confirm your situation before you decide.
Penalties worth avoiding
Part B: if you do not sign up when you should, your premium can go up 10% for each full 12 month period you went without Part B, and you generally pay it for as long as you have Part B.
Part D: if you go 63 days in a row or more without creditable drug coverage after your initial period, you may pay a penalty added to your drug plan premium.
Your checklist before 65
- Confirm your birthday and your 7 month window.
- Decide whether to take Part B now or whether your job coverage lets you wait.
- List your doctors, your hospital and your prescriptions.
- Compare Medicare Advantage with Medigap plus a drug plan.
- If your income is limited, ask whether you qualify for Medicaid or for Extra Help with prescriptions.