The Turning 65 Medicare Checklist For Lawrence Residents

Most of what goes wrong at 65 is a missed date rather than a wrong plan. This page sets the work out in the order it has to happen, from six months ahead of your birthday through your first October on Medicare. Find the block that matches where you are now, start there, and work down. If you would rather ask a person than read a list, that is what help with Medicare in Lawrence is for, and the call costs you nothing.

Why timing matters

Medicare deadlines are fixed, and missing one is not a one-time fee. Sign up for Part B late without creditable coverage behind you and the surcharge is added to every premium you pay from then on. Drug coverage works the same way. Before you decide to delay anything, put your own dates into the Part B penalty calculator and see the number.

Everything below is anchored to your 65th birthday. The order is what keeps it cheap.

Six months before 65

• Write down every doctor you want to keep. Primary care, each specialist, and where they admit: LMH Health, the KU system, or both. You will need this list the moment you start comparing networks.
• List your prescriptions with the dose. Add the pharmacy you actually use. Drug plans differ widely in which medications they cover and on which tier.
• Read up on the basics of Parts A, B, C and D. Medicare.gov covers them, and so does the Turning 65 guide. An orientation now makes every later decision quicker.
• If you are still working, ask HR whether the employer coverage you hold is creditable. Ask for the answer in writing. It decides whether you can delay Part B safely or not at all.
• Check whether you are already drawing Social Security. If you are, Parts A and B start on their own and you do not have to apply for them.

Three months before 65, when your window opens

• Apply for Medicare if Social Security has not done it for you. Apply at ssa.gov, by phone at 1-800-772-1213, or in person at the Lawrence Social Security office.
• Watch the mail for your Medicare card. If you were enrolled automatically, it usually turns up about three months before your 65th birthday.
• Put the two paths side by side. Original Medicare with a Medicare Supplement and a Part D drug plan is one. Medicare Advantage is the other. They trade off differently on which doctors you can use, on what you pay, and on how much checking you do later.
• Call your Lawrence doctors' offices and ask which plans they take. Ask the office, not a website. Network listings go stale, and the front desk knows what it is billing this month.
• Book a call with a licensed Kansas agent. Ask what it costs before you book; it should be nothing, because the carrier pays the agent rather than you. Adam's number is (785) 247-1314.

Two months before 65

• Run your medication list against the specific drug plans on offer. Match each medication to the formulary, then check whether Dillons, CVS, Walgreens or your own pharmacy sits in the plan's preferred network.
• If you are leaning toward a Supplement, compare Plan G and Plan N across carriers. The letters are standardized, so the same letter buys the same benefits from any carrier and only the premium moves. Comparing carriers is the whole job.
• Settle on a direction. By the end of this month you want to be able to name the path and the plan, not only the path.

One month before 65

• Submit the enrollment. Confirmation usually comes back inside a week. Keep it.
• Check that the plan's start date lines up with your Part A and Part B start date. Get both dates in writing. A gap of a few weeks is an abstraction until the week you are admitted.
• Decide how the premium gets paid. Most carriers offer automatic withdrawal, monthly billing, or quarterly billing. Pick one now rather than after a notice arrives.

Your birthday month

• Coverage begins, assuming you enrolled in one of the months above.
• Carry both cards. An office needs to see the Medicare card and the plan card at every visit until it has updated your file.
• Tell your doctors the coverage changed. Take both cards to the next appointment so the billing information is corrected before a claim goes out wrong.

The three months after your birthday month

• Enroll now if you still have not. Your enrollment window shuts at the end of the third month after the month you turn 65, and the late rules start on the other side of it.
• Read your first medical bills line by line. Errors are easiest to undo early. If a charge looks wrong, call the plan before you pay it.

Your first October on Medicare

• Mark October 15 to December 7. Every year that Annual Enrollment window lets you review a drug plan or an Advantage plan and change either one.
• Review your plan against this year's facts. Drug lists, networks and premiums all move. The plan that fit in your birthday year may not fit the next one, and staying put is a decision worth making on purpose.
• Make any change before December 7. What you switch during the window takes effect on January 1.

Common mistakes to avoid alongside the checklist

Working the list in order removes most of the risk. What is left sits in a few decisions people get wrong for the same reasons every year: assuming a group plan is creditable without asking HR, choosing an Advantage plan before confirming the doctors, skipping drug coverage because there are no prescriptions yet, and letting the one-time Supplement window close unused. All seven are set out on the Medicare mistakes page, together with the fix when one has already happened.

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