And 65-plus employees
shouldn't dismiss government insurance either. Here's why
by Phil Moeller | December 20, 2018
Turning 65 is
typically the trigger to enroll in Medicare. But members of a few groups,
including veterans and workers with employer plans, have other options.
In this week’s “Ask
Phil” column, Phil Moeller, the author of Get What’s Yours for Medicare:
Maximize Your Coverage, Minimize Your Costs and the
co-author of the updated edition of The New York Times bestseller How to Get What’s Yours: The Revised
Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security, addresses those
special cases, plus explains Medicare Supplement plan price variations.
Got a question of
your own about Medicare or
Social Security? Send it to askphil@considerable.com.
Do veterans need to
sign up for Medicare?
Question: As a veteran with
medical benefits, do I have to sign up for any kind of Medicare?
Phil Moeller: If you are satisfied
with your health care, you do not need to enroll in Medicare when you turn 65,
or at any other age. However, this means that you generally will be limited to
getting your care at Veterans Administration (VA) facilities and from the
doctors who practice there.
The widely-publicized
problems with the VA health system—most notably lengthy wait times to see a
doctor—has forced the agency to offer care at non-VA facilities. But I have not
seen any good information to date on how successful this change has been is
meeting veterans’ needs.
A warning: If you
decide at age 65 to forego Medicare and later change your mind, you may have to
pay late-enrollment
penalties, and they are steep if there has been a large time gap
between your eligibility and enrollment dates.
For example, the
penalty for not signing up for Medicare Part B is 10% for every 12-month
period during which you were eligible for Part B but not signed up.
Why do I see such a
wide price range for Medicare Supplement policies?
Question: Why do Medicare
Supplement premiums for the same plans vary so much between
companies? Some, like Plan G and Plan F, have as much as a $100
difference.
Phil Moeller: Medigap plans are
regulated at the state level, and insurance companies have substantial leeway
to charge different prices. While there may be slight differences in, for
example, the G plans sold by different insurers in the same state, the policies
are largely identical.
If consumers shopped
carefully for their Medigap plans, these price variations would large decline.
But many consumers don’t look closely at Medigap prices, and some insurance
brokers who sell Medigap plans are attracted to higher-priced plans because the
policies pay them higher commissions.
Do I need Medicare if
I’m on my husband’s workplace plan?
Question: We currently have
insurance through my husband’s employer. What happens when I am eligible for
Medicare?
Phil Moeller: If your husband’s
plan covers more than 20 employees, it must continue offering you health
coverage so long as he is an active employee.
Workers and spouses
in small-employer plans generally must get Medicare at age 65, at which time it
becomes their primary health insurance and the employer plan becomes their
secondary, or supplemental, insurer.
While you may not
have to get Medicare, I urge you to consider it
anyway. Employer health coverage is not what it used to be.
Some high-deductible
plans require you to spend thousands out-of-pocket before the plan’s coverage
kicks in. Medicare can help pay those deductibles and may be a better deal,
either in place of employer coverage or in addition to it.
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