Medicare now becomes the Primary insurance and your Group Insurance, if you keep it, becomes secondary insurance. When there are 20 or more employees on a plan then Medicare becomes secondary coverage to your group health insurance, so if you are taking Part A it pays in the secondary position. With less than 20 employees though, the rule of who is primary payer takes a 180-degree turn. If you have at least 20 employees in your company on your group health plan, there is no problem with staying on Group Insurance. Here is one that could spell big trouble for some people. Whether you can stay on your group insurance (if you choose to) without any problems is determined by whether 20 employees are part of your group health plan.

IF YOUR GROUP PLAN HAS LESS THAN 20 EMPLOYEES Even if you have signed up for your Group Health Insurance for the rest of the year, once you reach Medicare eligibility age you are entitled to leave your group health insurance and make the switch to Medicare.Īnd why would you? For the same reason that you might switch phone carriers or cable companies-Medicare is usually a MUCH, MUCH better deal. OPTION THREE: Quit Group and Go Onto a Medicare Plan. If you are contributing to an HSA, then you don’t want to apply for Part A as it will kibosh your ability to keep contributing more funds into your HSA.ģ. Then when you leave group coverage somewhere down the line you would apply for Part B to be added to your existing Part A.Īpplying for Part A is always a good idea with one key exception. In essence you are getting something for nothing (rarely a bad thing) which may save you on deductibles and copays if you need to go into the hospital. Part A (hospital coverage) costs you nothing and provides secondary coverage to your group health insurance. If you do consider Obamacare (ACA) it is a subsidized program and how much your spouse pays will be determined by your income.Ģ. There could be other options to consider such as private insurance or the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) marketplace.

Your spouse will be eligible to go onto COBRA for up to 36 months if you elect to leave your group health plan for Medicare. Note: Many people elect to stay on group health insurance if they have a spouse who requires them to stay on Group Coverage, so their spouse can keep their healthcare coverage. Group health coverage enables you to defer Medicare (without penalties) so long as you remain covered. Be assured, you won’t have any penalties at all to paywhen you do go onto Medicare, just so long as your group has at least 20 employees and your insurance includes prescription drug coverage. OPTION ONE: Stay On Your Group Plan and do nothing at all when it comes to Medicare. Going on Medicare means, “It’s New Hip Time!”ġ. With most Medicare plans these lucky newly 65 year-olds will have NO deductible and much smaller copays than on their group health insurance. For instance, they have been on group health insurance and have needed a hip replacement for two years now but haven’t gotten it done because of the deductible and copays being just too darn steep. I say MAGICAL because many, many times I hear from my clients that qualifying for Medicare brings magical never before seen health opportunities into their life. When you are on group health coverage and you reach that magical age of 64¾, in-other-words it’s three months before the month in which you turn 65, something MAGICAL happens: You become eligible to apply for Medicare!

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