New Start Dates for Medicare Part B Coverage Coming in 2023
Reading Time: 1 MinuteLast Updated: November 17, 2022
Changes are coming next year for Medicare Part B coverage.
What is not changing:
If you are eligible at age 65, your Initial Enrollment Period (IEP):
- Begins three months before your 65th birthday.
- Includes the month of your 65th birthday.
- Ends three months after your 65th birthday.
If you are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part B or if you sign up during the first three months of your IEP, your coverage will start the month you’re first eligible. If you sign up the month you turn 65, your coverage will start the first day of the following month. This won’t change with the new rule.
What is changing:
Starting January 1, 2023, your Medicare Part B coverage starts the first day of the month after you sign up, if you sign up during the last three months of your IEP.
Before this change, if you signed up during the last three months of your IEP, your Medicare Part B coverage started two to three months after you enrolled.
If you don’t sign up for Medicare Part B during your IEP, you have another chance each year during the General Enrollment Period (GEP). The GEP lasts from January 1 through March 31. Starting January 1, 2023, your coverage starts the first day of the month after you sign up.
You can learn more about these updates on our Medicare webpage and our Medicare publication.
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Tags: Medicare
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Dawn Bystry, Associate Commissioner, Office of Strategic and Digital Communications
Deputy Associate Commissioner, Office of Strategic and Digital Communications
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Carol. B.
I will turn 65 in June and may husband and I are covered under my insurance at work. I plan on retiring from my state job Sept. 1, 2023. In order for me and my husband to be covered under my state Medicare Advantage plan, when I retire, I need to show proof I and my husband have Part A & B, before I retire. My husband currently only has Part A. I read where Medicare Part B coverage now starts the first day of the month after you sign up.
1. What date should I and my husband sign up for Medicare Part B?
2. How long does it take to get the cards? I already have a document from my state health insurance showing my husband has been covered under my insurance for the past 30 years.
3. I do not plan on applying for Social Security until I reach full retirement age of 66.8. How will I pay for my Medicare Part B premiums. My husband currently draws Social Security.
Ann C.
Hi, Carol. Thanks for visiting our blog. Since you are covered under a group health plan based on your current employment, it sounds like you may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) that will let you sign up for Medicare Part B. You have an 8-month SEP to sign up for Part A and/or Part B that starts at one of these times (whichever happens first):
• The month after the employment ends
• The month after group health plan insurance based on current employment ends. Usually, you don’t pay a late enrollment penalty if you sign up during a SEP.
Keep in mind you can apply for Medicare up to three months in advance. If you get Social Security, Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) or Civil Service benefits, your Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) premiums will get deducted from your benefit payment. If you don’t get Social Security payments, RRB, or Civil Service benefits, you’ll get a bill called a “Medicare Premium Bill” (CMS-500). Normally, if your premium is late, you’ll get a second bill-notice reminding you to pay your premium. For more information about Medicare billing, please http://www.medicare.gov for more information.
You should always check with your health benefits advisor, or health plan representative to see what’s best for you. Please call our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213 if you need further assistance. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. You can also contact your local Social Security office. We hope this helps.
Kathy F.
In March I enrolled for medicare A and B to start June. I am not on social security. I have received no correspondence on how I pay for part B? Will i get a statement or bill in May?
Ann C.
Hi, Kathy. Thanks for visiting our blog. For specific questions about your bill or the status of your Medicare coverage, please can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., for assistance. You can also contact your local Social Security office. We hope this helps.
valentin P.
I need to cancel my Plan B Medicare, because I’m still coverage at my job–I’m not retired.
DP
you will need form CMS-1763 You will probably have to talk to Social Security as well so they will know that you understand exactly what you are doing.
Ann C.
Hi, Valentin. Thanks for visiting our blog. To terminate your enrollment, we will help you submit a signed request for termination or Form CMS-1763. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires, when possible, a personal interview be conducted with everyone who wishes to terminate entitlement. Therefore, we do not offer form CMS-1763 online. For an interview, you can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., for assistance. You can also contact your local Social Security office. We hope this helps.
Mike M.
My monthly social security benefit does cover my entire Part B monthly premium. Medicare informed me that Social Security will send me a yearly bill to cover the gap. When can I expect to receive the bill? I started receiving my monthly benefit February 2023.
Ann C.
Hi, Mike. Thanks for visiting our blog. For specific questions about your bill or the status of your Medicare coverage, please can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., for assistance. You can also contact your local Social Security office. We hope this helps.
Edwin B.
I signed up for Medicare Part A and Part B
0n February 13, 2023. My Birthday is January 28, 1958 (Now 65). Medicare. Gov states my Part B with start the first of the month following my sign up. Yet I have been retroactively signed up for Parts as of January 1st 2023. I have been billed for both January and February premiums. Why was Part B started two months earlier. What ca I do to get credit for these two months I should not have. I had no real coverage during that time
Ann C.
Hi, Edwin. Thanks for visiting our blog. For your security, we do not have access to private information in this venue. We encourage you to work with your local Social Security office. You can ask to speak to a supervisor on your next call or visit. We hope this is resolved soon.
DP
If you applied in February, they should not have backdated your Part B unless you requested it. They will always backdate Part A as there is USUALLY no premium. For the Part B premium, they want paid the month prior to coverage. So, if your Part B is February, they would normally receive that in January and so forth. With requesting two months, that is for February and March.
William T.
I enrolled in Part B online 3/2/2023. How do I check the status of my enrollment? I received 2 emails at the time I filed the form, first email was a link to verify and the second email was verification that I had signed. I have not received anything else that would tell me how to check the status or if my enrollment form was accepted.
Ann C.
Hi, William. Thanks for visiting our blog. For your security, we do not have access to private information in this venue. We ask that members in our Blog community work with our offices with specific questions. You can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., for assistance. You can also contact your local Social Security office. We hope this helps.
Rosalinda L.
Humana in Texas needs re-education on this. My client’s part B start was Feb 1. We met in Feb and signed up for a plan with a March 1 start date. We were denied and told the plan selection should have been made Nov, Dec, or Jan, and that since it was Feb, his part B start date, he no longer could enroll. Thankfully, I represent all the major carriers
john h.
today is february 22, 2023 and i already have medicare part A. My question is if i sign up for medicare part B tomorrow ( feb 23rd) will the auto deduction for part b have to be deducted from my ssa payment benefit payment on march the 3rd at which time my benefit payment arrives in my bank account?
Lori W.
From above: Starting January 1, 2023, your Medicare Part B coverage starts the first day of the month after you sign up, if you sign up during the last three months of your IEP.
I am not fully understanding this. If I enroll 3 months Before turning 65 (during my IEP) will Part A & B have the same effective/start dates? If not, why as I need them at the same time. If not, can I request they start on the same dates? Not clear on how one would have Part B and not Part A if you need to go to the hospital
Ann C.
Hi, Lori. Thanks for visiting our blog. Most people sign up for Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance) when they’re first eligible, typically at age 65. If you are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part B or if you sign up during the first three months of your Initial Enrollment Period (IEP), your coverage will start the month you’re first eligible. For more information, please visit our When To Sign Up For Medicare webpage. We hope this helps.
Lori
Friend enrolled in Part B during new General Enrollment Period and her Part B becomes effective on March 1, 2023. She needs a Part D plan but it appears that she can’t enroll in a Part D plan until April 1st following the existing (old) rules and her Part D won’t start until July 1st. This is going to cause a gap and maybe a late enrollment penalty. Is there going to be a change to Part D enrollment that reflects the changes that were made to the General Enrollment Period effective dates?