Throughout our lives we have milestones that mark success. Several of these milestones occur as we approach our mid-60s. For a lot of people the biggest milestone is the start of Social Security Income. The start of this new income stream usually tops the chart as the biggest decision in our mid-60s, BUT one that should NOT be overlooked is that of Medicare. The decisions around Medicare need to be right at the top with your Social Security Income decisions. For most people, Medicare will begin at age 65, but not everyone’s health insurance situation will be the same. One of the first steps is to figure out which of these health insurance scenarios you will be in at age 65:
- Insurance Scenario #1: Still working and have company health insurance or, often called, group health insurance.
- Insurance Scenario #2: Employer-Sponsored Retiree health insurance because of working many years at one company.
- Insurance Scenario #3: Veteran Affairs (VA) health insurance
- Insurance Scenario #4: Individual Medicare health insurance
If you will be in Insurance Scenario #1 you most likely do not need to do anything until you stop getting the company health insurance. In this situation most people should enroll in Medicare Part A. And chances are you do not need to enroll yet into Medicare Part B. Your company insurance and Medicare will coordinate.
If you are a part of Insurance Scenario #2, congratulations! A very small percentage of companies still offer this and it is a benefit for your loyalty and hard work to one company. Most times you will need to work directly with their agent or benefits company they have hired to administer the plan options. It could be a good option to join the retiree health insurance plan rather than an individual Medicare option.
For Insurance Scenario #3 there are several options to consider. Some decide to use just the VA Health System and some decide they want private health options as well as the VA. The good news is you can have both! So will it be just VA or a private individual Medicare insurance option along with VA health insurance? Note: You will need to have Part A and Part B of Medicare to add a private individual Medicare plan.
And Insurance Scenario #4 is where most of us will land. If you do not have access to insurance options like in insurance scenarios #1 – #3 then you will be looking at individual Medicare options. The Individual Medicare plans offer strong benefits and offer several different option types. We can help you choose which individual Medicare plan is right for you, it’s our expertise!
With questions on any of the above Insurance Scenarios please contact us! We are here to help. But especially if you are in Insurance Scenario #3 or #4, we highly recommend you reach out to us, because you have more options and choices to decide on than in Insurance Scenario #1 and #2. If you do not have a Medicare Insurance Broker/Agent please allow us the opportunity to help you. Please contact us by calling or using the “Contact Us” page to set up a time to discuss.
Jay Looft and the team at SeniorSource Medicare Solutions have been dedicated to helping people with their Medicare Insurance since 2009. They take pride in having the heart of a teacher and look forward to helping you! Call us at (770) 913-6464 today!