OK old folks... question re Medicare and SS...
 

So I turn 65 Feb 5, 2016. I am retiring from work December 2, 2015. My plan is to sign up for Medicare starting my birthday and then start taking SS March 1, 2016 maybe later (I get a pension from work). Just trying to figure out what I need to do...

My work is providing medical insurance. My understanding it will be my supplemental coverage once I start receiving Medicare. I don't know if that means it will be my Part B or something else; need to check with Human Resources. I assume I just go into the SS website and select either the "original" plan or the "advantage" plan. I am thinking I don't need the "advantage" plan but can't figure out the comparisions. I called Medicare.gov and while the lady was very nice, she didn'tquite answer my questions. I would like to make sure I do everything right and choose the right plan... also did you all also sign up for Part D? Is that necessary?

Any "saged" advice is welcome!!! :twitchy:

You most likely don't need "advantage". I've been retired for 7 years (started SS at 63 and Medicare at 65) and never had an advantage plan.
What it means (red part above) is when you go to the doctor you tell them that Medicare is primary and the employer provided insurance is secondary. The doctor's billing people will take it from there.

Don't stress. Just enjoy all the time you'll have to ride. :thumb:

A medicare advantage plan is a replacement for medicare part B and part D (prescription drug plan) . It is basically an HMO. Your out of pocket costs would be next to nothing under this type of plan. SS will take 104.00 a month out of your SS check to pay for it.

What you will have is Medicare A, B and a medicare suppliment (your employers coverage). I don't know if you will have part D prescription drug coverage. You need to clarify that. I think Part D is very important. Uninsured prescription drugs can cost hundreds a month or more. Maybe not right now but later in life. Whatever you do you will have the opportunity to change it once a year during open enrollment regardless of pre existing conditions.

You have to sign up for SS first, then your enrolled to Medicare.

Ask your employer for a description of theeir supplement plan. You will want to make sure if it is a supplement plan it does 4 things.
1. Pays the inpatient deductible medicare Part A takes if you are hospitalized or pays a portion of it
2. Add more covered days to Part A than Medicare covers
3. Picks up the 20% coinsurance of Part B or at least pays a portion of it
4. Offers you prescription drug coverage (Part D)

When you sign up for Medicare at age 65, you get Part A for free. You are offered Part B but you have to pay for it and the premium is deducted from you social security check. If you work after age 65, you can defer taking Part B if your employer continues to provide employer sponsored health insurance. If you defer taking Part B when retired, for every year you don't purchase Part B, you have to pay a penalty when you do buy it. The same with Part D, if you don't buy it when you can, you pay a penalty for every year you don't buy it. The premise is you have to pay more when you do buy it because you are buying it only when you are sick and need it. Of course as mentioned, for those that work after 65 and continue on their employer sponsored insurance, there is no penalty, but you do have to prove to social security you did have health insurance.

You won't need to take Medicare Advantage from Medicare if you have employer sponsored supplement insurance when you retire because the Medicare Advantage plans try to do the same thing, supplement Medicare but you have to pay for the supplement

You don't need to sign up for SS to get Medicare, at least not Part A.
I'm still working and on employer healthcare plan along with my younger stoker/wife. On the recent advice of another stoker (on another bike) on a club ride, I signed up for Medicare part A (Free). On the advice of the medicare/social security website, I ran that by my human resources people, who said no problem and Medicare will be my secondary for in-hospital care. (I plan not to need any in-hospital care - I already spend way too much time in-hospital [as an RN])
By all means, OP should talk with her Human Resources and scour the Medicare/SS website. General SS advice is to delay taking it - if possible - so that the amount you receive monthly can increase.

There are two types of medigap coverage. Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement. As a rule of thumb, if you are healthy go with Advantage, if not, go Supplement. You can change during open enrollment once a year. Your company coverage may be one or the other of those, and all you need is Medicare Basic.
Like you said, talk to HR. The people at medicare see their job as reducing medicare costs by confusing people so much that they die. (That's 78% a joke, but dealing with them can certainly be frustrating.)

You must sign up for medicare when you turn 65 or face heavy penalties. If you are still working and have coverage from your employer, you can waive coverage (and attendant cost) but you must sign up.
You do not have to take SS until you want to. The longer you hold off, the larger your benefit, but it is a matter of balancing months of benefits vs. amount of benefit to figure out what is best. Either way, it is a gamble.

There are at least 3 types of supplemental coverage - std 'medigap' (types F, G, K, etc.), Medicare Advantage, and employer-provided coverage. My former employer-provided coverage, for example, is pretty lousy WRT co-payments until I hit the max out of pocket, and it's not great on meds, but it covers many doctors who opt out of Medicare, and it covers a number of items that Medicare doesn't cover (it paid for hearing aids a few months ago, for example).

You need to check with HR to get details, because employers have wide latitude. Also, make sure the coverage is 'creditable', which means you won't be penalized if you want to switch to advantage or a combo of medigap and part D in the future. (The people who forced Part D into being didn't make it mandatory, but IIRC if you ever want it and don't start when you're 65, you'll have to pay an extra 1% for every month that you delayed enrolling.

Also, remember that Medicare stars at 65. You lose some SS benefit unless you wait until you hit 'Full Retirement Age', which appears to be 66 for people born between 1943 and 1954.

It is not required to sign up for medicare at 65 if you have employer insurance. This AARP info explains it much better than what is on the SS/Medicare site: Medicare Part B Enrollment When Working Beyond 65 - AARP

You guys have no idea how helpful your advice and suggestions have been... you have offered clarity which I needed. Still have decisions to make but you all have been it easier.

The websites are good, and AARP offers alot of advice, but there's nothing better than hearing from people who have been there done that...

Now my only issue, is actually retiring from work during this down market... part of me just says "dang it do it... it may never get better" and the other part says "you can wait; be patient; things may get better..." Thankfully I figured out (unless we do go into recession and everything gets inflated) I can live on SS and my pension without touching my investments (meager as they are).

SS take a look at the charts provided by the SS admin and you will find that if you make it to 80 there is basically no difference in the amount you will receive if you started at 62 or 70 when you have to start drawing. I know a lot of the money advice websites say wait but I think you have to look at your medical history and such. Do you want less money over a longer period or more over a shorter. I started at 65 so I was sort of in the middle. personally I think I would rather have the money when I can spend it while my health is still good.

You will be losing a quarter of a year going by your plan. What I mean is SS payout is set up on how many complete quarters you have worked, if you miss your last quarter it might screw up your payout amount. I'm no expert, but you may want to look into this.

Hi Pam. Part D (Rx Drug) will impose a penalty for waiting so sign up when you can.

As for retiring, believe best to work as long as comfortably can. An extra year or three means more funds saved and no retirement money spent. You can always fiund an IRA if no retirement plan at work.

Not clear if you are considering remaining with same employer or new job. Your present employer may have you take your pension which likely will not increase beyond normal retirement age.

As for Social Security it increases about 8% per year delayed which you can do to age 70. For five years that means the benefit is 40% greater than 65 plus it's indexed so future COLAs are applied to a higher base. Decision on timing is whether you need it to live on plus your medical history. If your parents died early or you have or had cancer or other life shortening diseases, better to take earlier. It takes about 15 years to break even so if one lives longer they get more. SSA gives the monthly benefit at each future age.

Finally if your are or were married you may be able to claim your spouses SSA benefit as a spouse. Then once you reach 70 for example you can file for your own, higher, benefit. This can give you some SSA as a spouse and then collect your own higher benefit later. The SSA law is quite complex. Others can help including SSA who will ask whether you were ever married. This spousal benefit applies if one is divorced or their spouse is deceased.

Good luck. Hope all this helps and pretty impressed with the knowledge of BF members.

You can start SS at 62, but Medicare does not begin until 65 -- regardless. Also, if your employer doesn't cover prescription drugs, it's best to get Part D -- even if you don't currently need it. If you initially decline and then start Part D later, I'm pretty sure you have to make up part or all prior premiums. This is something the OP should check on. I'm sure it's covered on the SS web site.

I just read a decent book on maximizing SS benefits. "Get What's Yours" was the title and it is a 2015 publish date. They heavily advocate to wait -- to maximize payouts. If you live well past 80, you'll be very glad you did (supposedly). They eschew simple "break even" analyses and point to actuarial tables suggesting if you live to 80 you'll probably live well past and would need the extra money. If you don't, then it doesn't much matter anyway. They also advocate to keep working. Other interesting tips and strategies.

I also have a few friends who retired a little early because of an incentive package. They don't admit to regretting the decision but they frequently comment on what huge difference it feels like when money is going out instead of coming in.

Took mine at 62 in 2012. March this year diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer. I'm a livivor right now, not a survivor, since I still have it. Might not make it to 80 so enjoying things now.

IF I'm around at 80, maybe I'll kick myself in the butt.

America is rich in resources. Things will certainly (sooner or later) get better. Whether or not you'll live long enough to see those better times.... is a completely different matter.

You will die. In my working career two co-workers died unexpectedly at home. Although none of my co-workers ever died at their desks... I know that does also happen. Some (MANY) people never actually "retire". Some (maybe MOST) people choose to work until illnesses or infirmities force them from the workforce. Some people leave (retire from) the workforce at the first opportunity. There is no singular correct choice.

My father worked right up till his death which included a long illness. My older brother could no longer function well enough to perform his duties and "retired" months before his demise. I opted to take an early retirement (due to cutbacks) and have enjoyed several years of pensioned retirement. We make our choices based on who we are and how we feel about what we do. It is totally a personal matter.

As pointed out you wont get full SS at 65. You will only get a lower amount. However Medicare will start at 65.

There's a big penalty for delaying purchasing a Part D policy UNLESS your employer's insurance is 'creditable'. There are potential penalties for delaying Part A and B, but again, employer-provided insurance may prevent the penalties being assessed for/on you.

Medicare can't answer your questions, because they don't keep track of all the variations available. Besides, Medicare support is outsourced to a company that has received lots of complaints, so you can't rely on them unless you have to.

HR is your source for info. Sorry you have to wait until Tuesday, when they'll be swamped....

My wife turned 65 in June, and I turned 65 last month. For what it's worth, here is how we played the SS/Medicare game:

1. My wife started Medicare A, with D and G supplements, on 1 June.
2. I did the same on 1 Aug. (You are eligible on the first of your birthday month.)
3. My wife plans to start drawing spousal SS benefits when she turns 66 and her benefits max out. (Her father lived to 87, and her mother is 90 and still going strong, so taking reduced SS at 62 was not an attractive option in her case.)
4. I plan to start drawing SS benefits at age 70, when mine max out, because my family history and my lifestyle give me a very clean shot past 90.

Because both of us are strongly HMO-averse, we did not even consider a [dis]Advantage plan, and we thought Plan G offered a few benefits that made it more attractive than the B or F alternatives. My wife takes only one prescription drug, Synthroid, because she is a thyroid cancer survivor, and I do not currently take any medications, but we decided to go ahead with the cheapest (Walmart) Plan D to avoid potential lifelong future penalties.

Complication warning: because my wife is slightly older than I am, because she wanted to start Medicare before I qualified for it and well before either of us wanted to start drawing SS, and because she was relying on spousal SS benefits to qualify for Medicare, working with the SS office proved to be unexpectedly challenging, with several delays and some wrong/bad advice being given from agents who should have known their own rules. My advice is to start applying three months before your birth month if your situation will be at all unusual.

When I called the medicare site, this was their advice as well.

I thought this though and plan on drawing SS by 3/1/2016, right after my 65 birthday. I realize the amount will be reduced but hopefully I will be receiving it longer so it works out... I am hoping between my pension (which I will start to draw at the same time) and SS, I won't need to touch my investments... at least for awhile.... I wish I could work until 70 and then start to draw SS... but I won't make it, the stress from my job is killing me!

Thanks for this recommendation. I borrowed the book from the library yesterday and in addition to being very helpful, it's a good read. Thanks to everyone else for their advice too. I'm 56 and my wife is 57, but it's never too early to start planning. My hope is to work until I'm at least 70. My parents both worked until they were in their mid 70s and their financial advisor tell them it was the wisest thing they could have done. But it seems the assumptions now are all based on both members of a couple having long work histories. My wife hasn't worked outside of the home in over 20 years and we're really confused on when she should start collecting to maximize her benefit and her security should something unexpected happen to me. Who would have thought you could get such good SS and Medicare advice on a cycling forum. I guess it's the people and not the venue that matter. Thanks again.

I wouldn't just write off Medicare Advantage, you need to compare to what your company's plan provides. You do probably need to apply for and start paying for Medicare Part B from CMS at 65 (assuming you are not working in covered employment). If you are also drawing SS old age annuity it will be deducted but other wise you make out a quarterly check to CMS. I guess "full retirement age" FRA has some implications for spousal benefits, but I think for a primary beneficiary once you turn 62 the longer you wait the bigger the check until you're 70 and FRA isn't that important.

My wife and I cared for her father, and he had a fairly generous retiree medical AT FIRST. But as time went on it got less and less, until eventually they would only pay for the Medicare Advantage with our main insurer (I think it was about $30 or $40 a month plus you still have to pay Part B) Then they went bankrupt (Eastman Kodak) and that was the end of that. He never had Part D and didn't need it. I never understood exactly how part D worked, but his company always advised him he didn't need it so I took their word for it. His drugs were pretty cheap (like $9 copay for 90 days).

scott s.
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