Avoid penalties when enrolling in Original Medicare

Many times you may wonder if it is important to take action during the Medicare Initial Enrollment Period and enroll on time. And it definitely is. This period is extremely important because it is actually a seven-month period in which you must enroll in Medicare. This period covers the month of your birthday, three months before and three months after.

For some people who are not receiving Social Security benefits at the beginning of this period, they need to do a Medicare Manual Enrollment when they are already eligible. For example, if your birthday is in December, September is the first month of the initial enrollment period.

This enrollment can be done by calling the Social Security office, by searching on Google search engine "Social Security Office at" and type in your zip code to find a local office. You can call the national Social Security hotline, or you can also do it online from their website (see video instructions). Actually, the easiest, fastest and most convenient way to do it is to enroll online.

The purpose of this blog is to tell you how to avoid penalties for Original Medicare. Remember that Original Medicare is only Part A and Part B of Medicare, so acting on time with your enrollment in these parts during the initial enrollment period will help you avoid penalties. avoid fines and also prevents delay your coverage of Medicare.

You already know that you can receive free of charge the Part A If you or your spouse made Social Security contributions and accumulated the 40 credits during your time of employment. The Part B Medicare does have a cost, and this year it is costing $170.10 per month. Failure to timely enroll in this part during this seven-month period will result in a penalty of 10% for each one-year period that Part B is late. For example, if someone delayed Part B for three years, for each year it is 10%; i.e., for three years 30% of $170.10 applies. This would be an increase of $51.03 for a total of $221.13. So instead of paying $170.10 for his monthly premium, this person will pay $221.13. Not to mention that each year this part of the cost goes up a little.

Keep in mind that this fine is for life. It's not like you're going to pay the first month you get it and you'll be up to date; so, that's a very costly mistake.

On the other hand, if you are working and have creditable health coverage with your employer, or your spouse has such coverage with your employer, you can delay Part B without being hit with a penalty.

If you are 63, 64, transitioning to Medicare and have questions, start preparing for it. Find an agency that will start guiding you from start to finish. We always encourage people to contact us six months before their 65th birthday to start the process, to find out what their enrollment is going to be like, whether it's going to be automatic or whether it's going to be manual. If you are working and have coverage, we can help guide you and help you avoid these penalties.

Contact an independent agent. If you don't have one, call me, whether you are in Texas or another state, I can still help you with all things Medicare.

Our services are free of charge for all our clients, especially Spanish-speaking clients.

If you have questions or concerns about Medicare and its plans, you can write to the following email address grace@avilamedicare.comor call us when you need it.

Our local number is 512-520-5957 or you can call us on our toll free number which is 855-GO-AVILA. We are here to serve you.