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What Information And Documents Will I Need To Enroll In Medicare Living In WNY?
By Andrew L Hibbard @WNYMrMedicare
Originally Posted: 17 JULY 2023
Updated & Revised:
If you are not collecting, or will not be collecting, your Social Security income benefits at 65 or before, you won’t be automatically enrolled for your Original Medicare Part A and Part B benefits.
Why?
Because the Social Security and Medicare programs were set up in the 1960’s to be complementary and symbiotic. Folks did not do one without the other.
In today’s times, many, if not most, Baby Boomers are delaying collecting on their Social Security income until they reach their arbitrary and assigned “full-retirement” age, which drastically and dramatically changes the process to sign up and start Medicare, whether at 65, or any time after.
Here are the two (2) most common situations and scenarios which require careful and concerted planning to now mess anything up or make a costly mistake.
SITUATION #1
You are turning 65 and know you DO need Medicare. It doesn’t matter if you will retire at 65, or willingly keep working past 65.
In the 3-month window before you turn 65, you will enter your Initial Enrollment Period, or “IEP.” This is the right time for you to get started with signing up for Medicare.
Required and recommended documents to prepare for Medicare:
- Your Driver’s License
- Your Birth Certificate
- Proof of U.S. Citizenship, such as passport (you must be a U.S. citizen or a legal resident for five (5) continuous years.)
- Your Social Security card
- Your current health insurance information
- Your past two (2) years tax information
- Your military discharge documents, if you served before 1968
SITUATION #2
You are older than 65, you did not sign up for Medicare, now need Medicare later in life, and want to absolutely avoid paying a late enrollment penalty.
Once you have your retirement date set, and know the day and sate you will lose your health insurance from your Employer Group Health Plan (EGHP), you can begin the process to start and signup Medicare using a Special Enrollment Period, or “SEP.”
You will have a compressed and consolidated chunk of time spanning only the 60-days prior to you needing your Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B benefits to begin.
Required and recommended documents to prepare for Medicare:
- Your Driver’s License
- Your Birth Certificate
- Proof of U.S. Citizenship, such as passport (you must be a U.S. citizen or a legal resident for five (5) continuous years.)
- Your Social Security card
- Your current health insurance information
- Your past two (2) years tax information
- Your military discharge documents, if you served before 1968
Along with…
- Your Medicare application forms
- Your Employer verification form (signed by company benefit representative)
- Your W-2s reflecting pre-tax medical contributions
- Your pay stubs that reflect health insurance premium deductions
- Your current health insurance card (if it shows your policy effective date)
- Your explanations of benefits paid by your Employer Group Health Plan (EGHP)
- Your statements or receipts that reflect payment of your health insurance premiums and the date ranges
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, let me send you a completely free, complimentary copy, all at my expense. Here’s the website to go to: https://www.startingmedicaresmartly.com
**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. Learn more about my nationally recognized program, and how you can put it to work for you --- for free --- by going to https://www.medicaresmartstartwny.com
**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 to help you avoid paying a costly late penalty for life --- before it's too late! You can immediately schedule your emergency Medicare SmartStart Strategy Session with me at https://calendly.com/wnymedicare/medicare_smartstart_session (They go fast, so I hope there are still any 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. Feel free to browse the complete Medicare SmartStart Answers article archive at https://www.wnymedicare.org/smartstart_answers
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! You can request yours at https://www.medicaresmartstartwny.com/info 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!
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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