Start your Medicare enrollment planning before your birthday month. The usual Initial Enrollment Period lasts seven months: the three months before you turn 65, your birthday month and the following three months. Your circumstances can change the timing, especially if you have coverage through current employment.
Make three checks before applying
- Find out whether enrollment will be automatic. People already receiving certain Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board benefits may be enrolled automatically. Read the actual notice or card you receive; do not assume a friend's experience applies to you.
- Check your current insurance. Ask the benefits administrator how it coordinates with Medicare. Retiree insurance and COBRA are not the same as coverage based on current employment.
- Confirm your start dates. Applying and becoming covered are different events. Use Medicare's timing tool and keep the confirmation.
Build a simple enrollment folder
- Your intended retirement date and the date any job-based coverage ends.
- Current insurance notices and the benefits administrator's contact information.
- Medicare or Social Security enrollment letters and application receipts.
- A list of doctors, hospitals and medical services you want to check.
- Questions about premiums, cost sharing and other coverage you may need.
Avoid a coverage gap
Do not cancel existing insurance merely because you submitted an application. Confirm the new effective date and ask what happens to anyone else covered by your current policy. If you contribute to a Health Savings Account, get qualified tax guidance before enrolling: Medicare enrollment and retroactive Part A coverage can affect contribution eligibility.
Where to complete enrollment
Social Security handles most Part A and Part B enrollment. A Licensed Insurance Agent can explain private coverage options, but cannot change federal eligibility rules or promise an effective date. People with Railroad Retirement Board benefits should follow that agency's process. If your birthday falls on the first day of a month, check the special timing rule with Medicare.
Continue with a related question
- Medicare Part A and Part B: What Each Covers
- Medicare When You Have Your Spouse’s Job-Based Insurance
- Your Medigap Open Enrollment Period