Medicare Enrollment Periods

Medicare limits your ability to add or drop coverage after official enrollment periods. So pay close attention to Medicare enrollment deadlines. Here are some details:

Initial Enrollment Period. If you are not automatically enrolled, you must sign up during your "initial enrollment period" for Part A with or without Part B. This initial sign-up lasts 7 months, starting 3 months before the month of your 65th birthday and ending 3 months after. During this time, you can sign up for any Medicare coverage you would like. However, if you wait to sign up the month of your birthday or the 3 months that follow, you will have to wait 1 to 3 months for coverage to begin.

Other enrollment periods. If you did not enroll in Parts A and B during the initial enrollment period, you may do so between Jan. 1 and March 31, with coverage beginning on July 1 that year. You may have to pay a higher monthly premium for coverage. There are some exceptions. If you are covered under a group health insurance plan through your job or your spouse's job, or if your employment ends after the initial enrollment period, you may enroll in Medicare during a Special Enrollment Period without having to pay a late-enrollment penalty.

Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C). You may join a Medicare Advantage plan during the 7-month period when you first become eligible for Medicare. These plans may have more benefits and more coverage. You may join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage plan between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7. You may switch to Original Medicare (Parts A and B) and sign up for a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D) between Jan. 1 and Feb. 14.

Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D). You may join, switch, or drop a drug plan between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7. There is an exception: You may join a 5-star Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, as rated by Medicare, from Dec. 8th to Nov. 30th, but you can only do this once. Go to www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan to see ratings.

What to know about Medicare penalties. If you don't sign up during your initial enrollment period for some programs -- like Medicare Parts A and B and Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage (Part D) -- you might pay a higher monthly fee when you sign up later.

There are some exceptions. If you or your spouse are still working and have insurance coverage through your employer, you generally will not have to pay a late enrollment penalty. To avoid the Part D late enrollment penalty, your  drug coverage now through an employer-based health plan must be as good as Medicare's or better. Your employer plan must tell you each year if your plan is “creditable,” which means it provides coverage at least as good as Part D. After insurance from an employer ends, you must sign up for Part B within 8 months and for Part D within 63 days. Keep in mind that an insurance policy from an employer with fewer than 20 employees works differently with Medicare. If you work for a company of that size, you should sign up for Medicare when you are first eligible. You will not incur penalties if you don't, but without Medicare Part B coverage, you could be without coverage for outpatient services.

Sign up for a Medicare Supplement (Medigap)  early. Medigap is private insurance you buy to help pay for additional Medicare costs. If you need a Medigap plan, you should buy it within 6 months of getting Medicare Part B. During that period, you're guaranteed to get any Medigap plan that’s available in your state. But if you try to buy it after those 6 months, the insurance company can charge you a higher price or turn you down all together.