Ok…DH will be 65 in October. He is not retired, and is not collecting SS. So he has to do something about Medicare. I believe he plans to continue with his employer provided health insurance.
Following! DH turns 65 next March and is still self-employed. Looking forward to lower premiums!
When my sister had this situation, the HR department at her company explained to her what to do.
We don’t have an HR department - it’s just DH and me. 
I’m not sure my husband would want to rely on his HR department!
We had the same situation a couple of years ago. I think you take part A but were allowed to postpone part B if I remember correctly.
Yes…you can take part A and postpone part B. I believe to avoid a penalty later on, you need to also show that you continue to have other coverage.
My question is…how do you go about doing so? Can this be done online?
your premium should go way down as Part A covers hospitalization. I believe you continue with private coverage for outpatient and can move over to a medicare supplement once you retire.
https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/medicare/ I suggest starting here; see if it answers your questions.
@rickle1 my husband’s premium won’t go down a dime. They don’t separate out hospital coverage. He will continue to get his primary plan from his work.
@rosered55 I hate to say it…but we have read that ad nauseum…and it’s a clear as mud.
^^ I would check (I’m sure you have) if he can get on Part B while still working and swap his company plan with a med sup. Has to be a way to do that.
It’s less costly per month for my husband it stay on his company plan…and it has better coverage than Medicare even with supplement.
His company won’t pay for a Medicare supplement plan…only their company offered plan.
Yes…he CAN do Medicare A and B and supplement…or Medicare Advantage at age 65. But right now…we want to know what he needs to do to continue his company coverage…and not have a cost penalty later.
I was in that situation–i turned 65 but still had employer insurance. The upshot was to sign up for A, which is hospitalization and defer signing up for B which involves demonstrating that the employer coverage is compliant with Medicare’s requirements. When the employer coverage ends, for whatever reason, you have a certain window of time to sign up for B. If you fail to sign up for B within that window you can get hit with a penalty.
All of this was doable online. I had a specific question regarding timing so I went in person to my local Social Security office and they were very helpful and efficient.
Thank you @Wellspring. Since my husband is within the 90 day before age 65 window, I’m guessing he can do all of this now online?
Check k the website but 90 days sounds right.
As we advise students: call the office on Monday.
We got H Medicare A shortly after he turned 65, as it was no cost to us. He waited until he retired st age 70 to get Medicare B. There was NO penalty. His employer signed a form indicating the date he retired and that he was covered by employer-provided insurance until he retired. His insurance was better than Medicare.
H had up to 8 months after he retired to start Medicare B with no penalty. He was still working after he retired but with no benefits, so he had to start B within 8 months of retirement date to avoid penalty.
We have kept his employer-provided family plan, as it covers him, me and our disabled dependent D. His former employer continues to pay most of the premium and we pay a portion. We have it instead of a MediGap or supplemental policy and instead of Medicare D.
Oh yes…it’s so much fun calling the SS administration on the phone. Last time I did this, i was on hold for well over an hour.
But now I know it can be done online…with no issues.
When my husband turned 65 , he was working a few days a month and on my health plan at work . I was working 32 hrs a week, but was allowed to pay the full time rate for insurance which was very reasonable. That year the company decided they need to offer me insurance , but I would need to pay the part rate which for my husband would have been $660/month. We decide it was better to have him take Medicare a and b and and supplemental plan. The cost approx. half. My company supplied me with documentation of continuing coverage for husband.
We went in person with this document and proof of our income for the prior year. SS looks back 2 years and would have added an IRMAA adjustment due to our income when he was working FT 2 yrs prior.
When he leaves his employer get documentation relating to coverage.
We get Medicare A online. We mailed in Medicare B paperwork but it was never processed. We had to go in person to retrieve it and then H went back to resubmit in person and was approved for B on the spot with the previously unprocessed paperwork that had been declared “incorrectly completed.”