When it comes to enrolling in Medicare, it’s important that you understand the enrollment periods and why it’s important to enroll on time, especially if you’re newly eligible.
In fact, one of the first enrollment periods that will become available to you as someone who is newly eligible is the Initial Enrollment Period. But, if there are multiple enrollment periods to know about, what makes this particular enrollment period so crucial to know?
What is the Initial Enrollment Period?
The Initial Enrollment Period is the first enrollment period that becomes available to those who are newly eligible for Medicare. It will start three months before your 65th birthday month and end three months after your 65th birthday month. In total, this gives you seven months to enroll in Medicare.
Get the Coverage You Need
Enrolling in Medicare as soon as possible is typically the best thing to do so you can get your coverage as quickly as possible. Waiting too long to enroll will just prolong your need for coverage.
You Should Enroll on Time
As already mentioned, it’s best to enroll in Medicare as soon as possible so you can get your coverage started, but enrolling during this specific period is typically the best because you can avoid late enrollment penalties.
What are late enrollment penalties?
Well, late enrollment penalties are definitely something you should try to avoid as much as possible. These penalties pop up if you delay your Medicare enrollment and are added to your monthly premiums.
For Part A, the penalty is 10% of your premium. You will be required to pay this premium for double the amount of time you could’ve had Part A coverage but never enrolled. Fortunately, this particular late enrollment penalty is not permanent, but the longer you wait to enroll in Part A, the longer you’ll have to pay the penalty.
For Part B, however, the late enrollment penalty is permanent. The penalty will be added to your monthly premium and will go up at least 10% for every full year that you went without Part B coverage.
And, for Part D, your late enrollment penalty will ultimately depend on how long you choose to go without Part D coverage or some other form of creditable prescription drug coverage. This late enrollment penalty will be calculated by taking 1% of the standard Part D premium and multiplying it by the number of months you didn’t have Part D. Then, this amount is rounded to the nearest $.10 and added to your premium.
Similar to Part B, the Part D penalty is also permanent.
Give MB Insurance Solutions a Call Today
We care about you enrolling in Medicare on time and avoiding these late enrollment penalties. If you want to learn more about enrolling during your Initial Enrollment Period, give us a call today, and we can answer all your questions.