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How Many Months Before I Turn 65 Should I Sign Up For Medicare Living In WNY?

By Andrew L Hibbard 
@WNYMrMedicare

Originally Posted: 24 APR 2023
Updated & Revised:


When you’re turning 65, Medicare becomes top of mind. And if it isn’t, it should be.

What to do. When to do it. How it all needs to be done. Missing your enrollment period deadline will subject you to costly penalties you’ll pay for life.

But one question many WNY’ers should be answering, but don’t know or think to ask is this…

Should you even be applying for Medicare at 65? Or should you suspend and sign up later in life after 65?

Today, more than ever, if you were born in 1957 or later, you need to seek out correct, credible and accurate advice to help you make smart decisions about your Medicare benefits.

There is just much more complexity to deciding what you should do, or have to do, about signing up and starting Medicare than in years past.

Let’s assume for the sake of this article, that you are nearing age 65 and know you need Medicare. You will be losing your health insurance coverage from your Employer (EGHP), and likely have no other health insurance option in retirement other than Medicare, so you know you will need to sign up and start both your Part A and Part B benefits.

This is the standard situation, similar to many of your friends and family members who worked hard, played by the rules, and scrimped, saved, and sacrificed along the way only to be slightly screwed ready to retire not being rich, but not being poor. (This is anyone who did not retire from a local, State, or Federal Government job, and provided with a free healthcare plan, paid for by us the taxpayers, given to them in retirement --- they have no need for Medicare).

Now, signing up and starting Medicare is not simple...but I will do my best to make it simpler.

The Federal Government keeps changing their rules and regulations around how they want you to fill out and file your application forms, where they need to be submitted, and when they need to be submitted by.

I spend hundreds of hours keeping up to date on these critical changes and have done all the hard work for you.

Here’s what you need to know...

Clearly understanding exactly when to apply for Medicare may be the single, most important thing you need to know, because not getting this right the first time, can cost you thousands of dollars extra over your lifetime.

To be technical, you should not apply for Medicare at 65, rather you should apply before you turn 65, so that your benefits will begin exactly on the first day of the month you hit the ever important, big 65th birthday.

For you folks who wish and want their Medicare benefits to begin right at age 65, you will use your specific Initial Enrollment Period, or in industry acronym jargon, your “IEP”.

Your IEP is a 7-month period that opens 3 months before your birth month, in the year you turn 65, includes your birth month, and closes 3 months after your birth month.

There are more complexities and complications to your specific enrollment instructions, than just the 7-month period that bookends your birth month, (like what day of the month you were actually born on), but now you have a handle on your timeline.

**DISCLAIMER** Just don’t fill out and file the paper forms or online e-application any earlier than the 3-month mark before you turn 65 or else your application can, and often is, rejected because you did it too early (remember, the government doesn’t like proactive people). 

Ok, there’s a lot to deal with, right? I get it.

And as an active adult in WNY, who’s always on the run, you need a smart solution to cut through all the clutter. 

If you want some light shed on your situation, your hand held the whole way, and making your move to Medicare simpler, easier, seemingly stress-free and almost effortless, I can do just that. Here's how...

NEARING AGE 65 AND AREN'T SURE WHERE TO START?

**If you are TURNING 65 IN 6-12 MONTHS, my #1 Amazon best-selling guidebook, "Starting Medicare Smartly" will give you a great overview of everything you need to know, before you need to know it. Instead of buying on Amazon for $12.99, click HERE now and let me send you a completely free copy, all at my expense.

**If you are TURNING 65 IN 4-6 MONTHS, you should be getting ready to enroll and your paperwork prepared to either sign up at 65, or suspend --- you can't do nothing. If you don't have the time or desire to deal with doing any of the dirty work with Medicare yourself, OR, you feel frustrated, confused and kind of clueless about figuring out the fine print with Medicare, you can rely on my free Medicare SmartStart Program and let me take away all your stress of trying to tackle anything on your own. It's how I help people just like you. Weekly availability is limited to the first 10 folks, and maximum 40 per month. Don't delay. Click HERE now to learn more about my nationally recognized program, and how you can put it to work for you --- for free.

**If you are TURNING 65 IN 1-4 MONTHS, you are cutting it close to your Medicare late penalty period. If you have NOT yet filled out and filed your Medicare forms, you are behind and against the clock. It is URGENT we get together as soon as possible so I can do all I can, before it's too late, to help you avoid paying a costly late penalty for life. Click HERE now to immediately schedule an emergency Medicare SmartStart Strategy Session with me...if there are any still available.


HAVE MORE MEDICARE QUESTIONS?

Read the most common questions folks in WNY ask when they aren’t sure how to get started with Medicare. Click HERE to see the complete Medicare SmartStart Answers article archive.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew L Hibbard is a prominent name when mentioning Medicare in WNY, but one you may have never heard of. Working behind-the-scenes, he is a best-selling author, expert advisor and successful agency owner. Focused on educating first, Andrew prides himself on being considered “the only advocate in WNY fighting for better and more reliable Medicare resources, free from insurance company conflict of interests.”

To take away the stress of trying to tackle Medicare alone and feeling forced to figure it all out by yourself --- Andrew created the WNY Medicare SmartStart Program; a free, step-by-step plan, that holds you by the hand to sign up and start Medicare smartly. (More than 850+ people have gone through the program and call it “the lazy way to get Medicare done for you without costing you a dime”).

**SPECIAL FREE GIFT** If you want to see how hundreds of WNY'ers each year are doing things different with Medicare, and getting it all done in record time, you can request a special "Medicare SmartStarter Info Kit” at no-cost to you, Andrew will give it to you as his free gift. It will prove, without a doubt, why his Medicare SmartStart Program is widely considered the most popular and preferred way to sign up and get started with Medicare in WNY, Guaranteed! Simply click HERE right now, and everything will be rushed to you right away. It's that easy!

You Can Feel Confident Knowing What To Do With Medicare.

I Can Take Away The Stress Of Trying To Tackle It On Your Own.

Figuring out all the fine print with Medicare doesn't need to feel stressful. You don't have to spend your scarce free time at home, alone, in isolation, relying on your own assumptions and hit-or-miss guesses, attempting to do-it-yourself.

Confidently knowing exactly what to do (and when) with Medicare is the key to avoiding future fines and fees and only my Medicare SmartStart Program will show you how.

If you don't have the time or the desire to deal with Medicare directly, and want a BETTER, SMARTER, time-saving solution to short-cut hours of your own trial and error so you know --- without question --- you aren't messing anything up making a mistake...

Let me put my proven Medicare SmartStart Program to work for you. 

Click the link below to take the next step and schedule a complimentary Medicare SmartStart Strategy Session with me --- it's that easy!

You Can Feel Confident Knowing What To Do With Medicare.

I Can Take Away The Stress Of Trying To Tackle It On Your Own.

Figuring out all the fine print with Medicare doesn't need to feel stressful. You don't have to spend your scarce free time at home, alone, in isolation, relying on your own assumptions and hit-or-miss guesses, attempting to do-it-yourself.

Confidently knowing exactly what to do (and when) with Medicare is the key to avoiding future fines and fees and only my Medicare SmartStart Program will show you how.

If you don't have the time or the desire to deal with Medicare directly, and want a BETTER, SMARTER, time-saving solution to short-cut hours of your own trial and error so you know --- without question --- you aren't messing anything up making a mistake...

Let me put my proven Medicare SmartStart Program to work for you. 

Click the link below to take the next step and schedule a complimentary Medicare SmartStart Strategy Session with me --- it's that easy!

Get Started For FREE!

medicare help sign up for Medicare Part B Erie county
Who Is Andrew Hibbard?
Since 2015, Andrew has helped over 850+ Western New Yorkers through his nationally recognized Medicare SmartStart Program, taking away all the stress from folks trying to tackle Medicare on their own. His impressive record of success has been gotten Andrew featured in Forever Young Magazine and the BEE Group Newspapers, exclusive interviews on WECK Radio's Senior Matter's Program, and author an #1 Amazon best-selling guidebook on the subject, "Starting Medicare Smartly," revealing how the rules specifically and significantly differ for NY residents versus other states.
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