When Turning 65 - People Who Have Marketplace Plans or Other Individual Insurance Need to Review Options

Now that the Affordable Care Act has been offering plans through the Marketplace for 2 full years, there is new confusion for those turning 65.  Normally, in the pre-Affordable Care Act (ACA) world, someone turning 65 in an individual plan would have coverage cease upon their eligibility date for Medicare.  They were not able to continue.

In this new Post-ACA world, especially when plans are purchased through the Marketplace - people turning 65 often are not notified that they should be looking at enrolling in Medicare.  Further, those getting subsidies are often unaware that if they are Medicare eligible, they are no longer able to collect subsidies through the Marketplace to help pay for insurance.

Know that there are penalties in the Medicare system if you do not enroll when eligible.  These penalties are imposed once Medicare is actually picked up and last a lifetime.  Financially, they can be large, and many people do not understand this unless someone is advising them.

My advice to someone turning 65?  Enroll in Medicare when eligible, unless you are an unusual case, such as a person who has immigrated here and would have to pay for Part A since they haven't paid enough Medicare taxes to warrant "premium free" Part A coverage.  (Part A - Hospitalization is automatic for most people at age 65 and costs nothing, if you've worked 40 quarters (10 years) or more in this country.  The fees to support this have already been paid for through payroll during a person's lifetime while working in the US.)

Part B - which covers outpatient services, carries a monthly premium.  If you do not sign up for that when first eligible, there are penalties associated with enrolling later.

Here's a good article from Kaiser Health News that discusses this in more detail.  Read more here . . .