Cobra for the medicare eligible

[Chazm]

It’s easy for me when someone asks if they should take Cobra or Medicare. Go on Medicare.”You’ve already met your deductible? Sorry, I recommend that you go on Medicare” and I take notes that I told them that.
No reason to try to game the system.

I get that he had it paid for by his company, but I always tell them that I can only recommend going on Medicare when you lose group coverage. Cobra is not creditable.

I wasn’t aware of your situation but it makes it even easier now to tell someone to not take cobra, even if it’s free.

 

[n3417511]

He isn’t faulting me. He made that decision himself when he wanted part B to start. I went with what he wanted to do. He even said he isn’t blaming me. I had him call the US dept of labor to find out if he has any rights. He said they told him that his HR department should have explained he wasn’t entitled to cobra in a letter. He said he never received a letter. Plus, I didn’t know there was such a rule to begin with so would never think to investigate the issue. Just went off of when he wanted to start his part b. Now that I know this rule exists, I can at least inform people to hurry up and get on part B right away because cobra won’t work. This was the first time I experienced someone wanting to elect cobra and not go onto Medicare right away. I knew he had 8 months before applying for part B without a penalty so I didn’t question his decision delaying part B for three months