With health coverage from your employer (or your spouse'due south), you can skip signing upwards for Medicare at age 65. But you demand to make certain you do it right to avoid a penalization later.

This week columnist Phil Moeller, the author ofGo What's Yours for Medicare: Maximize Your Coverage, Minimize Your Costs and the co-author of the updated edition of The New York Times bestsellerHow to Get What'southward Yours: The Revised Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security, helps two readers with questions about delaying.

Got a question of your own about Medicare or Social Security? Send it to  askphil@considerable.com.

How tin I make sure I'm not covered by Medicare by mistake?

Question: I plan to continue working by historic period 65 and continue receiving health care benefits from my employer. I plan to go along making contributions to my health savings business relationship (HSA), and I understand I should not sign up for any Medicare coverage, including Part A.

Practice I demand to notify Medicare that I plan to delay signing up at historic period 65? I don't want to exist penalized.

Phil Moeller:Your understanding of the HSA rules is right. Having Medicare is a conflict with the tax-deductibility of HSAs.

Having any type of Medicare disallows continued tax-deductible HSA contributions. This includes receiving any type of Social Security benefit, because the police force says that people on Social Security must have Part A of Medicare.

(Continue in listen, still, that if y'all accept an existing HSA, you may still retain the tax benefits for that business relationship—including taxation-gratuitous withdrawals for eligible medical expenses—even subsequently you enroll in Medicare.)

You practise non need to notify Medicare of your intention non to become Medicare. In fact, Medicare doesn't fifty-fifty handle Medicare enrollments. Social Security does this work.

I urge people who plow 65 to pay careful attention to their Social Security mail, because the agency occasionally does mistakenly enroll people in Medicare. If that happens, y'all should quickly contact the agency and reverse such an enrollment.

It too doesn't hurt to sign up for a personalized online My Medicare account. This account includes your Part A and Function B status, and thus will reverberate whatsoever improper enrollments.

Will we owe a penalty for skipping Medicare?

Question:My husband and I accept merely Part A of Medicare because we had insurance through his company, and we kept that coverage afterwards he retired. Our monthly insurance cost is $372 for both of us.

My question is, would nosotros pay a penalty for not having Medicare? If so, how much would it be?

Phil Moeller: From your question, it appears that you lot have retained life-long wellness insurance coverage from your employer during your retirements. If and then, congratulations!

You are one of a vanishing breed. I am non doubting y'all hither, but I would advise that you confirm this with your retiree wellness plan.

If this is the case, and if you are satisfied with the health program, I meet no reason for you to e'er become Medicare. There is no penalty for people who do non have Medicare.

In that location is no penalization for people who do not take Medicare.

There is, however, a late-enrollment penalty if you who exercise not get Medicare when you are first eligible and so later alter your mind and enroll. This penalty will tack on x% to monthly Part B premiums (now $135.fifty for most enrollees) for each total year you are late in enrolling.

In that location too is a smaller tardily-enrollment penalty for Medicare Role D drug plans.

Read more than Enquire Phil questions:

  • What will Medicare for All mean for my Medicare Reward plan?
  • Do veterans need to sign upwards for Medicare?
  • Am I amend off with my employer plan or Medicare?
  • Why am I beingness charged for a drug plan when I don't demand one?

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