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HICAP provides monthly public education presentations, and the dates are posted on https://seniornetwork- services.org under HICAP. HICAP also provides free one-on-one counseling ap- pointments to review the specifics of your turning 65 situation. You can call our Santa Cruz office at 831-462-5510 to schedule appointments, yes HICAP is county specific, and counselors are local folks. For this article we will review a few of the basics just to whet your appetite for the Medicare decisions you may have coming up when you turn 65. If you are turning 65 and continue to work and have employee group health insurance (EGHP) provid- ed by an employer with more than 100 employees, you do not need to sign up for Medicare. WHAT? Nobody told you that? It's true. Someone who turns 65 and is working and has credible insurance through their employer does not need to sign up for Medicare. But you heard Medicare imposes late penalties for folks who sign up late! Yes, that is also true. Already you can start to see some of the difficulties with under- standing Medicare. Call HICAP with questions. For this article, let's as- sume someone is retiring when they turn 65. This person has worked and paid into Social Security for over 40 quarters. And wants to register with Medicare. This person needs to contact Social Security Administration (SSA) via phone, website or walking into an office to sign up for Medicare. Registering for Medicare is through the SSA wheth- er someone is planning to collect SSA retirement benefits or not. There are two parts to the original Medicare, Parts A and B. If someone has paid into SSA for 40 quarters (or 10 years) then Part A is premium free, in other words it doesn't cost you anything until you use it. Part A is hospital Insurance, and covers most in-patient hospital care including hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, psychiatric hospital care, possibly home health care and hospice care. There is a deductible for when someone uses this insurance. In 2023 the deductible is $1,600 per benefit period, and this deductible amount tends to increase each year. There are also copays if someone must stay in the hospital for longer than 60 days. Medicare Part B cov- ers the medical side of Medicare insurance. Part B covers 80% of Medi- care approved costs for outpatient hospital care like doctor's services, outpatient hospital care, laboratory tests, ambu- lance services, preventive benefits, and some medi- cal equipment. Medicare Part B does have a month- ly premium that folks must pay. The premium is based on income from 2 years prior to signing up for Medicare. For folks that earned less than $97k individually or $194k per couple, the Part B premi- um is $164.90 per month. One can have the premi- um deducted from the SS benefit if they plan to collect Social Security, or SSA will bill that person quarterly, three months at a time, so $164.90 x 3 = $494.70 four times per year. "When can I register for Medicare?" Someone can register with SSA for their Medicare benefits three months before the month of their birthdate, the month of their birthdate, and up to three months after their birthday month. This is referred to as Initial Enrollment Period (IEP). If someone registers within the first three months of their IEP their Medicare will start on the first of their birthday month. If they wait until their birthday month, or the three months after their birth month, then Medicare will start the following month. Medicare will always start on the 1st of the month so it doesn't matter if someone's birth- day is the 7th,15th, or 25th, their Medicare will start on the first. Unless their birthday falls on the 1st of the month. Then the timing moves forward by a month. For example, someone's birthday is May 1st. Their Medicare benefits will start April 1st. Their IEP will start January, three months before April 1st, instead of February which is three months before May. Con- fused yet? Call HICAP. Once someone has signed up for Medicare through SSA, they are obligated to sign up for a Medicare Part D plan which covers prescription drug costs. Even if some- one does not use prescrip- tion medications, they are obligated to get a Medi- care prescription drug plan to avoid a lifetime penalty. Someone can sign up for a stand-alone Part D plan for prescrip- tion medications or they can sign up for a Part C plan that also can contain a Part D plan as well as other health insurance benefits. One must sign up with one or the other but not both. To get a Part D plan, one must have Part A or Part B or both. When in IEP one has the same 7 months to sign up for a Part D plan as they did for Parts A&B. Part C is an optional insurance and is also referred to as Medicare Advantage Plan. Most of the Part C plans contain a Part D plan as part of the coverage. But not all Part C plans do. But someone cannot have a Part C plan with- out a Part D plan and a stand-alone Part D. If someone has a Part C plan that does not have a Part D plan, they will be subject to penalty. A part C plan with a Part D plan bundled into it, will avoid penalty for the beneficiary. Con- fused yet? Call HICAP. There are too many details to review in a 900 word article, so if you have any questions regarding your Medi- care planning, please call HICAP at 831-462- 5510 or check us out at on https://senior- networkservices.org or https://www.facebook. com/seniornetworkser- vices By Bill Proulx Senior Network Services Adobe Stock photo