50+ Lifestyles

Get Started with Medicare

By Richard J. Schillig, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF
Independent Insurance and Financial Advisor

Medicare is health insurance for people 65 or older. You may be eligible to get Medicare earlier if you have a disability, End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), or ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Some people get Medicare automatically, others have to actively sign up — it depends if you start getting retirement or disability benefits from Social Security before you turn 65.

Follow this path if you’re going to get retirement or disability benefits from Social Security at least 4 months before you turn 65. You’ll automatically get Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance) when you turn 65. You’ll still need to make important decisions about your coverage, like whether you need to add drug coverage.

If you’re getting Social Security disability benefits, you’ll get Medicare automatically after getting disability benefits for 24 months. If you have ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease) you’ll get Medicare automatically as soon as you start getting disability benefits. In both cases, follow the path on this page, but keep your timing in mind.

Once you have Part A and/or Part B, you have Original Medicare. An alternative is Medicare Part C. To summarize your options for Medicare are one of these options:

Option 1   Original Medicare

(the 3 card system)

Medicare Part A – Hospital Coverage
Medicare Part B – Medical Services
Medicare Supplement \
Medicare Part D – Prescription Drugs

OR

Option 2    Medicare Advantage

(the 1 card system)

Medicare Part C:
Hospital Services
(All Services Included)
(Prescriptions Included)

During the Month of September, we will be offering ‘virtual’ Community Meetings on each option. Tuesday September 17 Craig will host a virtual Community Meeting on Original Medicare. Two days later on Sept 19 Craig will host a virtual Community Meeting on Medicare Advantage.

Call us at 563.332.2200 to receive instructions on how to participate in these very informative meetings from the privacy of your own home, using your own computer equipment. Or email us by going to my webpage: www.dickschillig.com. Scroll over to the contact icon for my email address.

If you are ‘aging in’ to Medicare these meetings will be extremely informative. If you are already on Medicare these meetings will offer a very informative review of these options.

Remember in addition to persons ‘aging in’ to Medicare, the Annual Enrollment Period – for persons already on Medicare – begins in Oct and runs from Oct 15 to December 7 with the new choice of plan(s) effective January 1, 2025.

Richard J. Schillig, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF is an Independent Insurance and Financial Advisor with RJS and Associates, Inc. He can be reached at (563) 332-2200.