One common mistake people make about Social Security and Medicare is that you have to be receiving Social Security benefits to enroll in Medicare, but this is not true. If you’re drawing Social Security four months before your 65th birthday, you will automatically be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B. This can be your benefit, a spouse’s benefit, a widow benefit, or a disability benefit.
If you don’t know that you’re being auto-enrolled, these two Medicare mishaps can happen –
1. You miss your Medicare card.
When you turn 64, you will start getting an overflow with insurance mailers, and this can often be misleading – people assume their Medicare card is one of these. If you are auto-enrolled, you will receive an envelope in the mail containing your Medicare card anywhere between one-four months before your 65th birthday.
2. You may end up paying double for health insurance when you don’t need to.
If you plan to stay on your employer’s health insurance (or your spouse’s) once you turn 65, as well as draw Social Security, you could be double paying for insurance if you were auto-enrolled in Medicare.
It’s important to remember that Social Security and Medicare are two different things. Most people usually start drawing Social Security and join Medicare at different times.
Medicare is a decision based upon your health insurance requirements/health insurance needs, whereas Social Security is typically based around your income needs.
If you have ANY questions regarding these two things, please give us a call to help clarify!
