Medicare is uncharted territory for most of the 10,000 people who become eligible for the program each day. There are some pitfalls lurking in the undergrowth and traps that can cost plenty unless people take care to avoid them..
Mistake #1: Believing you don’t need Medicare Part B if you have retiree or COBRA health coverage.
Part B is optional, so you are not obligated to enroll. But you should carefully check with your retiree plan to see how it fits in with Medicare. COBRA allows you to continue on your present employer’s health care plan after your job ends, usually for as long as 18 months. But as soon as you’re no longer actively working for this employer, COBRA coverage doesn’t allow you to delay Part B enrollment without risking late penalties. In this situation, you need to sign up for Part B before the end of your initial enrollment at age 65, or (if your job ended after that period) no later than eight months after you stopped work.
Mistake #2: Not signing up for Part D because you don’t take any prescription drugs.
Why pay Part D premiums if you need not medicines? Here’s why! First, no one has a crystal ball and can’t be sure that in the future you won’t get an unforeseen illness or suffer an injury that takes expensive drugs to treat. (Some cancer drugs cost thousands of dollars a month!) The other problem, and this could be major, is that you risk a penalty from Medicare. This penalty is added to your Part D premiums and continues forever. One solution is to pick a plan with the lowest premium to avoid future penalties. Look at it as insurance on your insurance.
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