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We went to the Social Security office this morning and we got right in wait was less than five minutes.
things went fairly smoothly, I had any documentation they could possible want but they didn't look at any of it.
Since payments are not going to arrive until the end of February we are not going to get the award letter until at least December. Estimate on benefits seemed low to me, but it does not include this years pay yet either. I knew it would be somewhat low since husbands full retirement age is in March 2016, and filing to start in January.
They also said he could not file for Part B medicare until he gets a form filled out by his former employer saying he has had coverage with appropriate health insurance since he turned 65. So he can't get part B till February which is out of the open enrollment period.
I thought I was all set to just enroll him in the supplement plans and myself in some other plan since I am 63. Now we have to wait till February and I am not sure if I am in special enrollment or not at that point.
We went to the Social Security office this morning and we got right in wait was less than five minutes.
things went fairly smoothly, I had any documentation they could possible want but they didn't look at any of it.
Since payments are not going to arrive until the end of February we are not going to get the award letter until at least December. Estimate on benefits seemed low to me, but it does not include this years pay yet either. I knew it would be somewhat low since husbands full retirement age is in March 2016, and filing to start in January.
They also said he could not file for Part B medicare until he gets a form filled out by his former employer saying he has had coverage with appropriate health insurance since he turned 65. So he can't get part B till February which is out of the open enrollment period.
I thought I was all set to just enroll him in the supplement plans and myself in some other plan since I am 63. Now we have to wait till February and I am not sure if I am in special enrollment or not at that point.
Are you asking a question or just giving SS a pat on the back?
If you are going for spousal benefits on your husband I would make sure you can not wait until he reaches FRA since you are so close.
Both of you should have signed up for Medicare part A at 65. No charge. Part B follows when you no longer have creditable insurance from your (or spouse's)employer. You probably get an annual letter from your employer saying the insurance is creditable. The last letter you got should work at SS, but a call to your HR department should get you an updated letter. You probably do not want employer and part B insurance at the same time. If I am correct then you want to sign up for part B ASAP with a start date of when your employer insurance stops. They will do this. No enrollment period applies. Note COBRA is not creditable insurance so do not use COBRA to delay part B. You may also want coverage for drugs, and other items that are not covered by part A and B so be sure to go to the medicare web site and look at the coverage options. https://www.medicare.gov/
We went to the Social Security office this morning and we got right in wait was less than five minutes.
things went fairly smoothly, I had any documentation they could possible want but they didn't look at any of it.
Since payments are not going to arrive until the end of February we are not going to get the award letter until at least December. Estimate on benefits seemed low to me, but it does not include this years pay yet either. I knew it would be somewhat low since husbands full retirement age is in March 2016, and filing to start in January.
They also said he could not file for Part B medicare until he gets a form filled out by his former employer saying he has had coverage with appropriate health insurance since he turned 65. So he can't get part B till February which is out of the open enrollment period.
I thought I was all set to just enroll him in the supplement plans and myself in some other plan since I am 63. Now we have to wait till February and I am not sure if I am in special enrollment or not at that point.
The regular Open Enrollment for Part A & B is Jan 1 to Mar 31. If he is just now losing his group employer coverage, then that could allow for a Special Enrollment anyway.
You may want to read thru this Medicare webpage and see how his situation fits.
Are you asking a question or just giving SS a pat on the back?
If you are going for spousal benefits on your husband I would make sure you can not wait until he reaches FRA since you are so close.
Both of you should have signed up for Medicare part A at 65. No charge. Part B follows when you no longer have creditable insurance from your (or spouse's)employer. You probably get an annual letter from your employer saying the insurance is creditable. The last letter you got should work at SS, but a call to your HR department should get you an updated letter. You probably do not want employer and part B insurance at the same time. If I am correct then you want to sign up for part B ASAP with a start date of when your employer insurance stops. They will do this. No enrollment period applies. Note COBRA is not creditable insurance so do not use COBRA to delay part B. You may also want coverage for drugs, and other items that are not covered by part A and B so be sure to go to the medicare web site and look at the coverage options. https://www.medicare.gov/
The COBRA we have is the same policy that we had while he is working, the company is covering the payments until February of 2016. So we cannot sign up for part B until then. The woman as SS said that he has 8 months from the time he left work to file for Part B with no penalty. I personally am more concerned with the pre existing conditions part and being guaranteed issue.
Also I am not 65 so not eligible for Medicare yet. So I will have to try to get insurance separate from His.
...They also said he could not file for Part B medicare until he gets a form filled out by his former employer saying he has had coverage with appropriate health insurance since he turned 65. So he can't get part B till February which is out of the open enrollment period...
That happened to me. I turned 65 in the middle of a month and, when I applied for Medicare, I was told I needed that form from my employer. But, as I recall, I had no trouble enrolling in Medicare, even though it was in the middle of the year.
The COBRA we have is the same policy that we had while he is working, the company is covering the payments until February of 2016. So we cannot sign up for part B until then. The woman as SS said that he has 8 months from the time he left work to file for Part B with no penalty. I personally am more concerned with the pre existing conditions part and being guaranteed issue.
Also I am not 65 so not eligible for Medicare yet. So I will have to try to get insurance separate from His.
Be careful as the opinions on COBRA are mixed. But in my opinion the rules say that COBRA is not creditable insurance. I would guess that almost all if not all COBRA insurance is the same as you had from the employer while working so the fact that your insurance coverage did not change would not make COBRA creditable. But You said the employer is paying the insurance. Maybe this is not really COBRA and you will be ok. I would get the letter from your employer now and go back to SS to see when you should sign up. It should be when your employers provided insurance ends.
When I retired, DH was on Medicare and my employer had been covering us for health insurance, including the equivalent of DH's Parts B and D. We (in California) also ran into the requirement of a letter from (in our case my) former employer assurng that he had creditable coverage up until the time he obtained his own Parts B and D. The last annual letter was not sufficient, in our case.
Since I'm not yet 65, I got insurance from Obamacare for this last couple of years.
Your husband's retirement is a special event. If he's just now retiring, he isn't limited to the open enrollment period. That 8 months to obtain Part B sounds familar.
I've heard a couple of people say that COBRA coverage doesn't count as creditable insurance. That is certainly false in California. COBRA is coverage just like the former coverage from an employer ... the only difference is that you have to pay for it yourself. In fact, the people who administer my retirement benefits effed it up (including that coverage letter, which it was their responsibility to obtain for us) so thoroughly that I had to pay for a month of COBRA coverage for us to ensure we had continuous coverage.
IIRC, no insurance company is allowed to refuse to cover pre-existing conditions. In any case, certainly insurance obtained under Obamacare isn't allowed to refuse to cover pre-existing conditions.
When I retired, DH was on Medicare and my employer had been covering us for health insurance, including the equivalent of DH's Parts B and D. We (in California) also ran into the requirement of a letter from (in our case my) former employer assurng that he had creditable coverage up until the time he obtained his own Parts B and D. The last annual letter was not sufficient, in our case.
Since I'm not yet 65, I got insurance from Obamacare for this last couple of years.
Your husband's retirement is a special event. If he's just now retiring, he isn't limited to the open enrollment period. That 8 months to obtain Part B sounds familar.
I've heard a couple of people say that COBRA coverage doesn't count as creditable insurance. That is certainly false in California. COBRA is coverage just like the former coverage from an employer ... the only difference is that you have to pay for it yourself. In fact, the people who administer my retirement benefits effed it up (including that coverage letter, which it was their responsibility to obtain for us) so thoroughly that I had to pay for a month of COBRA coverage for us to ensure we had continuous coverage.
IIRC, no insurance company is allowed to refuse to cover pre-existing conditions. In any case, certainly insurance obtained under Obamacare isn't allowed to refuse to cover pre-existing conditions.
COBRA is creditable for Obamacare (see https://www.healthcare.gov/unemployed/cobra-coverage/ ) where it says: "If you’re already enrolled in COBRA, you may have options in the Marketplace. This will depend on the time of year and if your COBRA is running out. "
it is not creditable for Medicare (see https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-cha...#collapse-3156 under "I have employer coverage" where it says:
"You can sign up for Part B without a penalty any time you have health coverage based on current employment. (COBRA and retiree health coverage don't count as current employer coverage.)"
Also there are issues if on Obamacare at the time you become eligible for Medicare. They are explained here: https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-cha...#collapse-5018 in the "I have coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace" section. Briefly it says "You can keep your Marketplace plan after your Medicare coverage starts. However, once your Part A coverage starts, any premium tax credits and reduced cost-sharing you get through the Marketplace will stop."
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Is COBRA "creditable" coverage ?
