Do I Have to Get Medicare If I’m Covered by My Spouse’s Employer Plan?
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First of all, let me just say thanks to everyone who has subscribed to this channel. I've been making videos on this channel now for a while. But over the last month or so, I've picked up several new subscribers. This channel is all about helping you understand how the Medicare program works, so that you can make an empowered choice or decision about choosing your benefits. Because let's be honest, Medicare is pretty confusing. I have friends and family that are on Medicare, and it's pretty tricky to follow. And so I decided to make this video ... this YouTube channel, excuse me, to help people with that process.
In today's video, what I wanted to talk about is actually answer a question that I got on one of my more popular videos. And I'll just pull it up here really quick. If you're seeing this video, please let me know in the comments below if you can hear me okay. Again, I'm just trying this new setup. Let me pull up this comment here. So, Ali. I hope I'm saying your name right asked on my 'Do I Need to Enroll in Medicare at 65 If I'm Still Working' video: what if I do not want to enroll, as I have health insurance through my wife? What should you do then?
This is probably a good follow up video from Enrolling in Medicare. Should you or should you not enroll in Medicare after 65? And so here's what I'll say. When I get questions like these ... again, I'm an independent insurance broker, so I do help people sign up for plans. That's why I started this channel. That's what I do. I'm licensed in multiple states. What I always start with is everyone's situation for their enrollment is a little bit different. Because for most people, they enroll at 65, and that's when they're eligible. But there are other situations like the other video that I made where people work past 65.
"Should I enroll in Medicare if my spouse is still working?" I can't give a straightforward answer that is just the same for everybody, because everybody's work situation and benefits are very, very different. I've talked with people who work for a company. The benefits that they have are very rich, and so it makes economical sense ... financial sense for the spouse to continue to get their health insurance from that plan.
But I've also talked to many people who the cost for staying on their spouse's coverage is very, very expensive compared to Medicare. The important thing to know is that when you go on original Medicare, and that would be A and B ... For most people, there's not a monthly premium for Part A, which is your hospital insurance. So, you don't pay anything a month. There is some deductibles, and co-insurance, and that sort of thing. I won't go into the details about that. But signing up for Part A for most people, there is no monthly premium. Part B does have a monthly premium, and right now it's around $148. It goes up a little bit every year.
But here's what you get when you have that $148 monthly premium for B. You get 80% of your medical needs covered by the Medicare program. Now, there is a gap in coverage, because there's a 20% responsibility on you. And so that's where a lot of people choose a Medicare supplement plan. But that 80% is very, very comprehensive. And not only is it comprehensive, but you can use that at any provider in the United States that takes Medicare. That contracts with Medicare. One of the big things that I try to help people understand when they're at the decision point, so to speak, of: do I stick with an employer-based coverage, or do I transition to Medicare, is compare the costs.
What will Medicare cost you versus what will that employer coverage cost you, whether it's for you or your spouse? Because again, the cost difference could be very, very big. For most people, that's a very important thing in their retirement years, because people are trying to keep that cost level down. That's the number one thing. The second thing is the network of providers. Are you limited with who you can see within that employer coverage? And with the Medicare program, actually open up a lot more opportunity for you to go to doctors, clinics, hospitals, specialists.
The main point of this video is that if you have employer coverage or your spouse has employer coverage, and you're trying to compare it to Medicare, there's a lot of variables with the employer coverage depending on who you are and what your spouse has. And Medicare. With Medicare, you can find out fairly quickly: what is this going to cost me if I sign up, and what does the coverage include? Whereas with an employer, again, some people, they have really good employee benefits, and some people it's not so good.
#medicareenrollment
