Signing Up for Medicare at the Last Minute

[beachbum2012]

I've had a few cases like this over the years, but I specifically wrote a medsupp for a guy on October 30th who is T65 in November and who also signed up for Medicare online that day. In my experience it can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months for people to get either their confirmation letter or card from Medicare after they enroll. And, this is obviously for people who are not drawing Social Security and enrolled in Medicare automatically. For one client that hadn't heard anything yet and was several weeks past her supposed Medicare effective date, I've called Medicare in the past and they said that whenever they finalize the application she would be backdated to her original effective date. So, if something happens to them after this date but before they're approved, they'll be covered.

Back to this 10/30 app. The guy wants to cancel his current health plan but doesn't feel comfortable just yet since he's gotten no update from Medicare. How have you guys handled these situations in the past? Have you heard the same thing from Medicare about backdating coverage?

 

[WCMason]

If he qualifies for Medicare his 10/30 enroll date will get him an 11/1 effective date. By now he's likely already paid his Nov premium on current coverage so he'll end up paying for both in Nov. Enough time has passed for him to check enrollment status on Medicare.gov.

 

[G.Gordon]

I don't sweat it. They waited, not you. Don't try to convince them of anything. Give the factual options and let them decide on a course of action.

a. You will have Medicare and all other plans we applied for. You are safe to cancel now if you want.

b. If you want to wait, you can submit proof to the current company and request a retro-cancellation and refund.

Which way should we handle this?

 

[Fisher]

Enough time has passed for him to check enrollment status on Medicare.gov.

How would a person do this? Hopefully I'll learn something I was not aware of.

 

[WCMason]

How would a person do this? Hopefully I'll learn something I was not aware of.

Go to www.medicare.gov
Select check your current enrollment.

The results will only tell you whether the beneficiary is in Original Medicare and what current and future PDP or MAPD they've enrolled in. I don't believe it shows the Part A or B effective date. But you can get that. On the screen where you enter the beneficiary information, select 11/1 as the Part B date. If that shows no results found then try another Part B effective date. If you try several possible Part B effective date with no results, he's not yet completed the enrollment. If you do get to the results screen, then the Part B date you entered is correct. There may be another way, but this will work.

https://www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan/enrollment/check-enrollment.aspx

 

[Fisher]

Much thanks, Mason. I've never known about that.

 

[WCMason]

Much thanks, Mason. I've never known about that.

Nice tool. I use it mostly for my T65 med supp clients who I show how to self-enroll in PDP plans I am not contracted with. It allows me to see if they followed through without calling them. I run a report the middle of each month with a list of all those who have effective dates the first of the next month, then reach out to those who don't show PDP enrollment in place.

 

[BillyC]

I thought that if you enroll late, then you have to wait until July for coverage or something...

Am I close?

 

[sshafran]

Nice tool. I use it mostly for my T65 med supp clients who I show how to self-enroll in PDP plans I am not contracted with. It allows me to see if they followed through without calling them. I run a report the middle of each month with a list of all those who have effective dates the first of the next month, then reach out to those who don't show PDP enrollment in place.

It's also good for checking if they are LIS, and current coverage when they can't remember or won't get off the couch to find their card.

For example, I had a lady say she has just Rx coverage for $x per month. She swore it wasn't "Medicare Advantage" as she had never heard of advantage plans. Something didn't add up. The premium amount didn't match any PDP or MAPD.

So we checked online and found her MAPD coverage... and I figured out the premium difference was simply that she added dental OSB.

It's a great tool....

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I thought that if you enroll late, then you have to wait until July for coverage or something...

Am I close?

Depends on how "late."