I get this question daily, and the answer is as clear as mud, but hopefully this will help.
At 65, you should always take Medicare Part A. If you are eligible, there is no cost, so you should take it.
Part B, on the other hand is a different animal. You have to know the following to best serve your client
· Do they have a spouse they currently cover through work, and if so when do they get Medicare?
· Is their coverage creditable to Medicare ?(more info Here)
· How much does their current insurance cost through work?
Once we have these answers, we can best serve them. For example, if their current coverage is not creditable, they will want to take Part B so they don’t face any enrollment penalties. Most group coverage qualifies, so this is rarely an issue. If they have a trailing spouse, more often than not, they are best served to keep their group plan until said spouse reaches 65, or they decide to retire. Stand-alone under65 health plans outside of group coverage, are often very costly.
If they don’t have a trailing spouse, then the question comes down to what does their employer coverage cost, and how good is the coverage? Medicare Part B will cost a new enrollee $134 for 2017 generally speaking, unless they have higher than normal income, and supplemental Medicare coverage starts as little as $0 and can cost as much as an additional $150 to $200 per month for the best coverage available. All situations are different, but we have found that 80% of the time, options under Medicare are better than under their employer coverage. There are still many moving parts, which is why we recommend a Free Medicare consultation to determine a beneficiaries best course of action. Hopefully this cleared things up a bit.
Jimmy Hobson is a licensed Medicare insurance specialist who helps Financial Planners, as well as Tax & Insurance Professionals help their clients solve the Medicare puzzle. For a Free consultation and overview about how I can help you solidify as well as grow your older clientele, contact me,via email at jimmy@utahseniorservices.com, or telephone @801.979.6365