COBRA utilization impact on Medicare
Terry,
I listen to you every week on John William’s show and SO greatly appreciate your knowledge and candor. You brought up something to a listener about not using their COBRA option as opposed to Medicare and it spurred the following question for me with regard to possibilities in my life.
My wife is planning to retire at 63.5 yrs old and use the 18 months of COBRA from her employer to get her to Medicare age. If she does that will it present any issues or problems in her Medicare choices at age the end of the 18 months when she reaches age 65?
Thank you for your help!
Terry Says
My warning was for people who are over 65, and take an 18 month COBRA payout, which extends their coverage while they are not working for the company. Then they lose their chance to buy a supplement without regard to their health situation, because they only have 6 months from date of end of employment to sign up for a Medicare supplement with guaranteed admission.
But since your wife is not yet eligible for Medicare, this won’t apply to her. She should sign up for Medicare two months before she reaches age 65, and immediately apply for a supplement and a Part D drug program, so she won’t be penalized.
