New to Medicare
Turning 65 without the guesswork
You will get a stack of post, several phone calls and one genuinely important deadline. Here is the order to do things in, starting about a year out.
- Start four months early
- One appointment, usually
- No cost to you
The calendar
What to do, and when
Six steps. Two of them carry a permanent penalty if you skip them, and both are near the top.
Twelve months out
Nothing to do yet, but ask one question at work: how many employees does this employer have, and does the plan stay primary at 65? The answer decides whether you enrol or delay.
Four months out
Your Initial Enrolment Period opens three months before your birthday month. Make the list: doctors you want to keep, every medication with its dose, and the pharmacy you actually use.
Three months out
Enrol in Part A and Part B if you are taking them now — sign up in these first three months and cover starts on the first of your birthday month with no gap. Then choose your route.
Two months out
Apply for the Supplement or the Advantage plan you have chosen. Medigap has a six-month open enrolment window with no health questions; it opens when Part B starts, and it does not come back.
The month itself
Cards arrive. Check that your doctors are listed where you expect them to be, and fill one prescription to confirm the pharmacy pricing matches what you were shown.
Every autumn after
Read the Annual Notice of Change your plan sends in September. Formularies and networks move every year; your prescriptions move too.
Six questions
What decides your route
Nobody needs all of Medicare explained. They need the three or four bits that apply to them, which these questions find.
Are you still working?
Employer cover at a company with 20 or more employees usually lets you delay Part B without penalty, and gives you an eight-month Special Enrolment Period when it ends. Under 20 employees, Medicare normally pays first and delaying is a mistake.
Are you taking Social Security?
If you are already receiving benefits when you turn 65, you are enrolled in Part A and Part B automatically and the card arrives in the post. If not, nothing happens until you apply.
Do you have an HSA?
Medicare enrolment ends your eligibility to contribute to a Health Savings Account, and Part A can backdate up to six months. Stop contributions in good time or face a tax penalty.
Are you a veteran?
VA benefits and Medicare do different jobs and do not coordinate. Most veterans take Part B anyway, so care outside a VA facility is covered.
Do you travel or live seasonally?
Original Medicare with a Supplement follows you anywhere in the country. Most Advantage plans do not, beyond urgent and emergency care.
Do you have Medicaid or a low income?
Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help can pay premiums and cut drug costs sharply. Many people who qualify never apply, because nobody told them to.
Windows to remember
The numbers worth writing down
7
months in your Initial Enrolment Period
6
months of Medigap open enrolment, once
8
months of SEP after employer cover ends
40
minutes to walk through all of it
Avoidable
The four mistakes we see most
Every one of these is permanent or near enough, and every one is easy to sidestep with a phone call in the right month.
Assuming COBRA counts
COBRA is not active employer cover. It does not protect you from the Part B late-enrolment penalty, and it does not create a Special Enrolment Period when it ends. This one is expensive and permanent.
Letting the Medigap window close
Your six-month Medigap open enrolment starts when Part B begins. Inside it, no health questions. Outside it, most applications in Georgia and South Carolina are medically underwritten and can be declined.
Skipping Part D because you take nothing
Go without creditable drug cover and the late-enrolment penalty accrues every month, then attaches to your premium for as long as you have Part D. A cheap plan today is cheaper than the penalty later.
Choosing on premium alone
A $0 premium is not a $0 plan. The network and the drug tiers decide what a year really costs, and they are the two things a brochure hides best.
Plan costs vary by county, by carrier and by the drugs on your list. We price your own list against the plans available where you live before recommending anything.
Who you would speak to
Desmond Okoye
Medicare advisor · MPA-C™
Desmond handles the turning-65 calendar: when your window opens, which penalties are permanent, and how an employer plan changes the maths.
Turning 65
Questions we hear every week
Four to five months before your birthday. That gives us time to check whether delaying makes sense, and leaves room to apply while your Medigap window is still open. Nobody has ever called us too early; plenty have called in the week their cover was due to start.
You will be enrolled in Part A and Part B automatically, and a card will arrive about three months before your birthday. You still have to choose how you cover the gaps and your prescriptions — that part never happens on its own.
Medicare is individual, so a younger spouse stays where they are: on the employer plan, on a Marketplace plan, or on their own policy. We look at both of you together, because dropping a family plan can change what the younger spouse pays.
Our help costs you nothing. We are paid by the carrier you choose, and your premium is the same whether you enrol with us or on your own.
Book the forty minutes now, not in December
Bring your doctors, your medication list and your birthday. We will map the windows, compare what is sold in your county, and put it in writing.
- No cost to you
- No pressure
- In person or by phone
Get a free plan review
A licensed, local advisor — usually the same day.
(912) 555-0148Mon – Thu 8:30 am – 6:00 pm