Health insurance past the age of 65? | 3rd Level Wealth
What do you do when you are past the age of 65 for your health insurance?
What if you are married? What if your spouse is still working and can add you to their group plan? What are your options and which one is best? What is Medicare A, B, C, D?
There is much confusion over health insurance in the United States, especially Medicare. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people over the age of 65 and some younger people who qualify in different situations. Medicare can be your primary insurance or it can be secondary depending on circumstances.
To simplify, let’s pretend you are 67 years old and retiring this year. Your spouse is 63 and still working at a large corporation.
What do you do?
You have two options (and this is assuming you are already enrolled in Medicare Part A):
One, you can be added to your spouse’s health insurance. And as long as your spouse’s employer has over 20 employees, your group plan pays primarily on claims and medicare pays secondary. *You are not enrolled in Medicare Part B in this situation and can save $164.90 per month in 2023 on premium.
Two, you can enroll in Medicare Part B and start paying the monthly premiums. This will give you ‘Original Medicare’ which is part A & B (hospital and medical), and then the decision will be what (if any) insurance do you want in addition to it. Original Medicare pays 80% of claims so it is a good idea to search for additional coverage to best suit your needs. Original Medicare does not cover prescription drugs so that will have to be taken into consideration as well.
As you can see, each person’s scenario can get complicated in a hurry. It is always best practice to review your health insurance at least once per year and especially so once you hit age 65. The open enrollment period will be October 15 through December 7 this year.
Wouldn't it be nice to know that you explored all of your health insurance options and made the best decision for your financial well being?
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