Medicare Registration Headache
Hello Terry,
I am retired from my previous job. I am working full time at a different job. My wife and I are currently covered by my previous employer’s insurance until I turn sixty five in September. My retiree insurance will end on October 25 (2025).
My wife is 66 and is registered in Medicare Part A. I am attempting to register (on line) in part A, and then we both want Part B to start in October.
Our challenge is, the Group Health Plan Information section of the online form won’t allow me to explain my situation, using the click selections. Additionally, we called the Medicare phone line and the representative explained we need forms which he was sending, but have not arrived after two weeks. We now feel like the clock is ticking.
Can you offer us any advice, or point us in the right direction?
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Chris Lundy
Terry Says
Don’t do it that way. This is a separate process for each of you.
The minute YOU turn 65, (actually in August, about two months before your 65th birthday) you should register for both parts of Medicare — Part A and Part B.
At the SAME TIME, you should also purchase a supplement (Plan F –the most comprehensive) and sign up for a Part D drug plan (even if you are not taking any meds).
Your wife’s Medicare application is totally separate. (I’m assuming that she is currently covered under your previous employer’s plan, as you are.) The same time you file, she should file her own separate application for Part B, and choose a supplement, and a drug plan. She will separately explain that she has just lost coverage under her spouse’s plan, which triggers a special enrollment period for her, with no penalty. She may have to certify that she previously had comprehensive coverage under a spousal plan. But she does that separately, in her own application.
You can each do this separately at Medicare.gov.
