Hurry, the 2011 General Enrollment Period Ends March 31

As we come upon March 31, beneficiaries without Part B who wish to get it must enroll by that date. You can do this by calling the Social Security Administration (1-800-772-1213). Your enrollment will not be effective until July 1, 2011. Your base premium will be $115.40 per month; if you get Social Security, this will automatically be deducted from your monthly payment. But remember that you are, as a late enrollee, subject to a penalty; it is 10% (or $11.50 a month) of the base premium for each 12 months you could have been enrolled but were not. (And, if you have a high income, generally $170,000 for a couple or $85,000 for an individual, you will also be subject to the high income surcharge. But the penalty applies only to the base premium, not to any surcharge.)

(For those very few of you who do not have Part A but can qualify for “Premium Part A”, you can also sign up now, with the same effective date. Your monthly premium will probably be $495.00, if you have fewer than 30 “quarters of coverage,” or $272.80, if you have at least 30.

If you do sign up for Part B and you also have had or get Part A, two important events occur:

If you are 65 or older, and this is the very first time you have Part B, you will have a guaranteed issue right to any Medigap policy sold in your area beginning July 1st. This is true no matter how much older than 65 you are, although there may be some temporary preexisting condition exclusions. This is the federal law; your state may have additional protections. This right exists for only six months, so act before December 31.

For a beneficiary of any age (but not if you have End Stage Renal Disease), you also may, effective with July 1st, join a Medicare Advantage Plan as you now have both Part A and Part B, a requirement to join such a Plan. You must sign up within three months of July 1, that is, by September 30. You may not, in doing this, change your Part D status. If you don’t have Part D, you must sign up for a Plan which does not offer it; if you do have Part D, you can either do that and keep your current Part D stand-alone plan, or you can join any Plan which does include Part D coverage.

So act quickly if you want to enroll in more of Medicare! Call Social Security by Friday, March 31 and don’t wait ‘til the last minute. More detailed information on all these topics is available in Managing Your Medicare.

And, as I blogged on January 9, when enroll in Part B you know you will get it on July 1, so aggressively begin to schedule all applicable preventive and educational services beginning with that date, as these are all Part B services. It may take you months to schedule your “Welcome to Medicare” exam with your physician, so begin lining it up as soon as you enroll. Same for all the other preventive and educational services. My blog of November 29, 2010 explains everything available in 2011. And go over chapter 4 of Managing Your Medicare to see what else Part B covers. Perhaps you have put off some physical therapy that you really need, or some mental health services; line these up, too.