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Can I Delay Starting Medicare?

The typical age to receive Medicare benefits is when you turn 65 years of age. People who receive disability benefits qualify for Medicare benefits before they reach 65 years old. You should enroll in Medicare when you become eligible to do so in order to avoid penalties and higher premiums.

  1. Medicare Part A

    • Medicare Part A is hospital insurance. Part A is the only Medicare coverage that can be free. It is only free if you (or your spouse) have paid Medicare tax while you were working. If neither you nor your spouse have paid Medicare tax while working, you are allowed to purchase Part A and pay monthly premiums for coverage when you turn 65. You can delay your enrollment in Part A for as long as you have a group insurance plan through your union or employer. Talk to your employer or insurer, however, because some insurance companies require you to be enrolled in Medicare to continue providing you with coverage. Once you become eligible to enroll, if you do not do so and you do not have another insurance policy, as of 2011, you must pay an additional 10 percent of your premium every month if you decide to enroll later. You must do this for twice the number of years that you did not enroll when you could have.

    Medicare Part B

    • Medicare Part B is medical insurance. You become eligible to sign up for Part B at the same moment you become eligible to sign up for Part A. However, Part B is not free. You can also delay your Part B coverage if you have a group insurance through your employer or union unless your employer or union coverage requires that you enroll in Medicare to maintain your coverage. If this is the case, you can enroll up to eight months after your group insurance ends. However, as of 2011, if you delay your coverage for longer than this period, when you do sign up, you will have to pay a 10-percent penalty. You must pay an extra 10 percent of your premium for every year that you fail to enroll in Part B while being eligible to do so.

    Medicare Part C

    • Medicare Advantage Plans, Part C, are health insurance policies that cover the same things that Parts A and B cover plus some additional coverage provided by private companies who have a contract with Medicare. You can delay Part C as long as you want to without any penalty. Part C is only a complement to your original Medicare, and as such, you can enroll, switch or drop your Part C plan without further consequences. You can join or drop a Part C plan between November 15 and December 31 of every year, as long as you have Part A and Part B.

    Medicare Part D

    • Medicare Part D plans are plans that have prescription drug coverage. You can delay enrollment in Part D as long as you have another prescription drug coverage that is accredited. If you delay enrollment in Part D without having an accredited policy that covers prescription drugs, when you do sign up, Medicare adds a late penalty to your monthly premiums. As of 2011, this penalty is one percent of the national base beneficiary premium, which is $32.34 times the number of full months that you did not enroll for Part D without having another accredited coverage.

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