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When Will My Medicare Benefits Begin Living In WNY?
By Andrew L Hibbard @WNYMrMedicare
Originally Posted: 05 JUNE 2023
Updated & Revised:
**This article is an expansion on a previous article which answered the question “How Long Does It Take To Get Part B After Applying?”
Your Medicare benefits can begin at almost any time depending on your unique situation and scenario. Different for everyone.
Seems simple right?
Very much like no two fingerprints are alike from person to person, you have a different birthday, a different retirement date, a different day you need to submit your Medicare paperwork, and a different day you need your Medicare benefits to start, so there is no cookie-cutter answer.
The timeline for your friends, family, neighbors, or coworkers will likely NOT be the timeline for you.
In short, there are a few most common examples I can offer, but to provide you exact specifics about your situation without ever sitting down together would be irresponsible.
What I can offer here in this article, are two (2) scenarios which I have most commonly come across with the last 850+ WNY'ers who have gone through my free Medicare SmartStart Program.
ARE YOU APPLYING FOR BOTH MEDICARE PART A --- AND PART B --- AT AGE 65?
If this is your situation, you will have a 3-month (90-day) Initial Enrollment Period pre-dating your birth month to get all your ducks in a row.
Example: You are born in September, your Medicare Initial Enrollment Period would be the 3 months before September: June, July, August.
There is a critical concern and caution here dependent on what you will do regarding your Social Security Retirement Income benefits…which will lead to two different and distinct paths to pursue…
PATH #1: You WILL BE collecting your Social Security Retirement Income benefits at 65. The Federal Government will assume you are doing this because you are losing your earned income (loss of employment, retirement, whatever), and they will also assume you are losing your ability to have health insurance from an Employer and therefore automatically apply you for your Medicare benefits.
If this is your path, you will likely receive your Original Medicare card in the mail, during your 3-month (90-day) Initial Enrollment Period which pre-dates your birth month.
There is nothing more for you to do other than start shopping for which private Medicare Insurance plan will be best for you to pick.
PATH #2: You WILL NOT BE collection your Social Security Retirement Income benefits at 65, and may choose to continue to keep working, therefore have the option of health insurance from an Employer.
So, Medicare or no Medicare at 65? That is the question…
It all depends on what is more financially favorable. Employer coverage VS Medicare coverage.
Which you won’t know until we get together and crunch the numbers and compare coverages. You can schedule your free Medicare SmartStart Strategy Session with me HERE.
Now, if we determine and decide Medicare is best for you at 65, despite still working, we will use your 3-month (90-day) Initial Enrollment Period pre-dating your birth month to fill out and file all the appropriate application forms for you.
When applying for your Medicare Part A and Part B benefits at 65, your effective dates will be the first day of your birth month. (In our example: 09/01)
ARE YOU APPLYING FOR ONLY MEDICARE PART B --- AFTER 65 --- WITH PART A ALREADY?
If this is your situation, you will have 60 days before you need Medicare Part B to begin to fill out and file your paperwork and coordinate your coverage between Medicare and your Employer HR so one ends and the other begins on time.
Example: You know you want to retire on December 31. Your 60-day application window would be October and November to properly fill out and file the appropriate forms.
There is also a 63-day grace period post retirement with loss of your employer group health plan (EGHP) in which you can still apply for your Medicare Part A and B benefits after-the-fact. You’ll likely be faced with the lifetime late enrollment penalty, so it’s best to put a proactive plan in place to avoid having to pay more for Medicare, each and every month, for the rest of your life.
And, if at all possible, you’ll want to avoid any delay in coverage, such as, your health insurance from work ending one day, but a gap between the first day your Medicare will begin --- which means you’ll be buying expensive and costly COBRA coverage to bridge the gap. Or if your HR rep doesn’t terminate your health insurance plan from work on the right date, so you’ll be paying for both your employer plan and your Medicare plan at the same time.
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 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!
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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