Every enrollment window
Medicare Enrollment Help in Lawrence, Kansas
Medicare opens a different window depending on how you arrive at it. This page walks through all of them, so you can find yours and see what to do inside it.
Medicare has no single sign-up date. It has a set of windows, and the one that fits you depends on your age, on whether you or your spouse still work, and on the coverage you hold today. What follows covers all of them for Douglas County readers, including the two that people most often get wrong: turning 65 on a group plan, and retiring after 65. You can also just ask. help with Medicare in Lawrence is a phone call away and there is no fee, because the insurance company pays the agent instead of you.
The Enrollment Windows At A Glance
Seven windows exist. Find your row, then read on: the sections below take them in the same order.
| Window | Who it is for | When | What you can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Enrollment Period | New to Medicare at 65 | Seven months around your 65th birthday | Start Part A and Part B, then pick a plan |
| Part B Special Enrollment Period | Working past 65 on a group plan | Eight months from the month after the job or coverage ends | Start Part B, no late charge |
| Part D Special Enrollment Period | The same people, for drug coverage | Two months from the drug coverage ending | Join a drug plan before the count starts |
| General Enrollment Period | Anyone who missed both | January 1 to March 31, yearly | Sign up for Part B, coverage the month after |
| Annual Enrollment Period | Everyone on Medicare | October 15 to December 7 | Join, change or drop drug and Medicare Advantage plans |
| Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment | Advantage members only | January 1 to March 31 | Switch Advantage plans, or leave for Original Medicare |
| Medigap open enrollment | Newly on Part B at 65 or older | Six months, once | Buy any lettered plan you are eligible for |
The Initial Enrollment Period
This window arrives with your 65th birthday, and for most people it is the only one they use. It runs seven months, opening three months ahead of the month you turn 65 and closing three after.
The month you file decides the month your coverage starts. File during your birthday month or after it and coverage starts the first day of the month after you file, so the front half of the window is the half worth using.
Let all seven months pass with no employer plan behind you, and the next way in is the General Enrollment Period below, with a late enrollment penalty on your Part B premium for as long as you keep it.
Tell Adam the month you were born and he will tell you the month to act in.
Call Adam (785) 247-1314 Request a callRetiring Or Leaving Employer Coverage
If you worked past 65 on a group health plan, a Special Enrollment Period replaces the birthday window. It gives you room, as long as you start it on time. Four things govern it.
- Part B: eight months. The eight months begin with the month after your employment ends, or the month after the group health coverage ends, whichever comes first, and the first of those two dates is often earlier than expected. File inside them and no late charge is added.
- Part D: two months. You have two months from the end of the drug coverage to join a plan. Let a gap reach 63 days and the surcharge is worked out from every full month with no creditable drug coverage behind you since your Initial Enrollment Period closed, not merely the months past the 63rd day.
- The Supplement window follows Part B. Your one-time Medigap window is triggered by the Part B start date, not by a birthday. Retire at 68 and it opens then, so a well-chosen date gives you six months with no health questions.
- Two forms, filed together. CMS-40B is the Part B application. CMS-L564 is the one your employer completes to confirm the group coverage.
Do all of it in your last month at work: ask the benefits office for the creditable coverage letter in writing, and get CMS-L564 signed before you go.
Retiring this year? Adam can put your dates side by side before you file anything.
Call Adam (785) 247-1314 Request a callThe General Enrollment Period
If both of the windows above have closed for you, this is the way back in. It runs January 1 to March 31 every year, it turns nobody away, and coverage starts on the first day of the month after you enroll.
Treat it as a fallback. A surcharge usually travels with it, and the wait between January and the coverage start is time with no Part B. If a Special Enrollment Period fits instead, establish that first.
Missed a window? Adam will check whether an exception still covers you.
Call Adam (785) 247-1314 Request a callAnnual Enrollment And Advantage Open Enrollment
From October 15 to December 7 you can act on what the autumn mail tells you, and if nothing has changed, doing nothing is a complete answer. The Douglas County guide to that autumn window takes the decision step by step.
If you are in an Advantage plan on January 1, you get one more move before March 31. Most people use it after a January pharmacy bill or a network letter tells them the plan they picked in the autumn is not the plan they thought they picked.
Medigap Open Enrollment
The Supplement window is easy to lose without noticing. It lasts six months, and it begins in the first month where you have both reached 65 and started Part B.
Inside it a Kansas carrier must sell you any policy you are eligible to buy, at the rate it charges other people in the same position, whatever your health history holds. Plans C and F are the exception, and only because they closed to everyone first eligible for Medicare from January 1, 2020.
Where Lawrence Residents Enroll
Parts A and B are Social Security's business, not an agent's. Three routes are open.
- Online at ssa.gov. The Part B application is filed there, along with Extra Help, and it leaves you a dated receipt.
Source: ssa.gov, Medicare benefits
- The Lawrence Social Security office. The office serving Douglas County is at 1440 Wakarusa Dr, Suite 200, Lawrence, KS 66049. Appointments are recommended, and the national line, 1-800-772-1213, books them.
Source: ssa.gov office locator
- SHICK counseling. Trained volunteers give free Medicare guidance and sell nothing. Lawrence appointments go through the Douglas County Senior Resource Center; the full entry is on the senior resources page.
Source: kdads.ks.gov, SHICK
Enrollment questions people ask
Which enrollment window am I in right now?
Start from your age and your coverage. Not yet 65 and not enrolled: the Initial Enrollment Period. Past 65 on an employer plan: the Special Enrollment Period, once it ends. Already on Medicare: the autumn window.
Does Medicare enrollment happen by itself?
Only if you have been drawing Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits for at least four months before you turn 65.
Can I take Part B while I am still working?
Yes. Holding both is allowed, and it sometimes pays when the group plan carries a high deductible. It is arithmetic, not a rules question.
I took Part A only at 65. Is that a problem?
Usually not. Part A costs most people nothing and sits behind the group plan. Watch the end of that coverage, because the eight months run from there. One caution: it stops health savings contributions.
How long does an application take to go through?
Social Security publishes no fixed processing time. File early in your window, keep the receipt the online application gives you, and telephone 1-800-772-1213 if nothing has arrived when coverage should start.
Can Adam file the application for me?
No. Part A and Part B go through Social Security; no agent may submit that form for you. An agent handles the layer above: the drug plan, the Supplement or the Advantage plan.
Not sure which window you are in?
Tell Adam your dates and he will tell you which one applies. No cost.
Call (785) 247-1314 Or request a callback