Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 15

2. What should you consider before deciding
when to enroll in Medicare?
You should first consider your current needs for health
insurance. Is the coverage intended just for you or are you also
responsible for a spouse and dependents? Are you self-employed
and currently without a group health plan for your practice? Does
the firm you are partnered with offer health insurance and if so,
do they employ more or less than 20 employees? Will you have
other benefits available to you, such as government retirement
benefits? What will your Medicare cost be to enroll? What will
your Medicare coverages contain?
As you can see, there are many factors to consider, and as we
stated, every situation is different. Below, we will try to briefly
explain how some of the questions raised above may impact you
and your decisions about enrolling in Medicare.
Are you responsible to also have health insurance coverage
for a spouse? If so, you should consider that if you are
currently receiving your health benefits from an employersponsored group health plan and your spouse is not yet old
enough to qualify for their own Medicare benefits, whether
or not that spouse would lose coverage if you left the health
plan in favor of Medicare. If that is the case, would your
spouse be entitled to COBRA benefits or be able to acquire
health insurance through their own employer, and would that
"bridge the gap" to their Medicare eligibility?
Are you self employed in your practice? If you do not have
20 or more employees and offer health insurance, then you
must enroll into Medicare Parts A & B by law, which will
become your primary insurance. If you choose not to enroll
you would be exposed to the 10% per year penalty and
General Enrollment guidelines when you choose to enroll.
Does the firm that you're employed by currently offer health
insurance that would be considered primary coverage even
if you enroll into Medicare? If so, you need to compare the
costs and coverage associated with Medicare enrollment
versus what the then-current group health plan offers and
decide which option is best for you right now.

Medicare's website @ www.Medicare.gov
Social Security @ www.ssa.gov

Please be wary of websites that use similar
names that are not affiliated with the
government in any way such as Medicare.com.
Medicare can be a complicated proposition, particularly once
one gets beyond Parts A and B and is considering prescription
drugs (Part D) or supplement plans. These decisions are very
individualized, and exceed the scope of this article. Advice from
professional insurance providers should be
sought.
Debra R. Franklin is a consultant and
labor and employment attorney whose
practice serves employers in Eastern
and Central Pennsylvania. She focuses
on preventive human resource practices
and training. She can be contacted at
dfranklin@franklinlawfirmllc.com.
Tony Montgomery is Assistant Vice
President and Senior Plan Advisor
with Murray Securus. He offers
individualized advice at no cost and
can be reached at tmontgomery@
murrayins.com, or at 717-735-7181.

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Are you employed by the government or have a government
contract that will include retirement insurance benefits? If
so then you will probably be offered a plan that is designed to
work in conjunction with Medicare.
As you can see, there are numerous considerations involved
when deciding whether or not to exercise your rights under
Medicare. To answer these questions it is best to either seek
out your trusted insurance consultant or utilize the information
compiled at both official government websites:
Fall 2018 | 15

Retirement

through an employer as an active employee and that employer
has more than 20 employees Medicare would be secondary
to the group health plan and therefore not required with no
exposure to penalty.

Planning

w w w.BERKSBAR.org

http://www.berksbar.org http://www.Medicare.gov http://www.ssa.gov http://www.Medicare.com http://6107792500 http://lisatigerhomes.como

Berks Barrister Fall 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks Barrister Fall 2018