When to enroll in Medicare

The period in which you can enroll in Medicare starts three months before the month you turn 65, the month you turn 65 and up to three months after  you turn 65.

You may be eligible to enroll early  if you have a disability, End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) or ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Upon becoming eligible, most people sign up for both Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance). Possible risks of signing up later include a gap in coverage or being charged with a penalty. Still, signing up later might make sense in some cases. Seeking professional guidance, available  at no cost, can really help take the stress out of deciding on coverage and when to enroll.

You can join, switch or drop a Medicare Health Plan or a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) with or without drug coverage during the following periods:

Initial Enrollment Period
When you first become eligible for Medicare — three months before turning 65, you can join a plan.

Open Enrollment Period
Oct 15 – Dec 7 each year, you can join, switch or drop a plan. Coverage begins Jan 1 as long as a plan receives your request by Dec 7.

Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period
Jan 1 – Mar 31 each year. If you’re enrolled
in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can switch
to a different Advantage Plan or to Original Medicare (and join a separate Medicare drug plan) once during this period.

Special Enrollment Period (SEP)
This period deals with Part B. Medicare beneficiaries may qualify to delay enrollment in Part B if they have health coverage through their own or a spouse’s current employer.

Although Americans who age into Medicare have the option to delay enrolling in Part B, those who do make that choice should proceed with caution to avoid potentially ongoing enrollment penalties.