A 65-year-old retiring in November may have a completely different Medicare timeline from a 68-year-old leaving an employer health plan in November. Add COBRA, prescription coverage, Medicare Advantage, and annual enrollment periods to the mix, and it becomes easy to mark the wrong deadline.
Retirement comes with plenty of dates to remember, but a few missed deadlines can have consequences that last much longer than a forgotten appointment. Medicare has several enrollment windows, and the right one depends on your age, current insurance, employment status, and the type of coverage you want. Missing certain Medicare enrollment dates can potentially leave you without coverage for a period of time or trigger late-enrollment penalties that increase future premiums. The confusing part is that turning 65, retiring, losing employer insurance, and choosing a Medicare plan do not always happen at the same time. So, what are the dates that retirees really need to know about? Let’s dive in.
