If you have a Marketplace plan, you can keep
it until your Medicare coverage starts. Then you can end your Marketplace plan
without penalty.
If you like, you can keep your Marketplace
plan too. But once your Medicare Part A coverage starts, you’ll no longer be
eligible for any premium tax credits or other cost savings you may be getting
for your Marketplace plan. So you’d have to pay full price for the Marketplace
plan.
When you become eligible for Medicare
Let’s assume you have a Marketplace plan and
are turning 65 sometime this year.
Once you’re eligible for Medicare, you’ll have
an Initial Enrollment Period to sign up for Medicare. For most people, the
Initial Enrollment Period starts 3 months before their 65th birthday and ends 3
months after their 65th birthday.
In most cases it’s to
your advantage to sign up for Medicare when you’re first eligible because:
·
Once your Medicare
Part A coverage starts, you won’t be eligible for a premium tax credit or other
savings for a Marketplace plan. If you kept your Marketplace plan, you’d have
to pay full price.
·
If you enroll in
Medicare after your Initial Enrollment Period ends, you may have to pay a Part
B late enrollment penalty for as long as you have Medicare. In addition, you
can enroll in Medicare Part B (and Part A if you have to pay a premium for
it) only during the Medicare general enrollment period (from
January 1 to March 31 each year). Coverage doesn’t start until July of that
year. This may create a gap in your coverage.
Canceling your
Marketplace plan when you become eligible for Medicare
In most cases, if you have a Marketplace plan
when you become eligible for Medicare, you’ll want to end your Marketplace
coverage.
IMPORTANT
Don't end your
Marketplace plan until you know for sure when your new coverage starts. Once
you end Marketplace coverage, you can’t re-enroll until the next annual Open
Enrollment Period (unless you qualify for a Special
Enrollment Period).
Your Medicare coverage start date depends on
your situation.
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