The way in which Medicare and Cobra work together depends on which one you would go onto first. A beneficiary could have Cobra first and then become eligible for Medicare or, they could have Medicare and then become eligible for Cobra. Below are a few examples of these situations.
Have Medicare Parts A & B before Cobra eligibility.
You could have both, but a Cobra Plan would be optional. In this instance, Medicare would be your Primary coverage and Cobra would act as a secondary to Medicare. This would in most cases not be a good option because of how inexpensive a Medicare Supplement Plan and Stand-Alone Prescription Drug would cost in comparison to Cobra.
Have Cobra before Medicare.
You will need to apply for Medicare when you become eligible. You could possibly delay your Part D enrollment if you can keep your Cobra plan and that plan includes creditable prescription drug coverage. If the Cobra Plan does not have creditable prescription drug coverage, you would then have 63 days to enroll into a Part D plan without a penalty.
You could have Medicare Part A only before Cobra Plan starts.
In this scenario, you would need to get Medicare Part B within 8 months of your employment terminating to avoid any possible penalties. You may also need to get a Part D plan as well. Just remember that Cobra is optional however, you could have both, but the Cobra will act as a secondary.
One last important note is that unless you are receiving Social Security Benefits when you turn 65, you do not need to notify Social Security that you wish to delay enrollment.
For more information about your options, give us a call at 215-967-8828 or fill out the form for more information.
By Joe DeAngelis
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer.
Please contact 1-800-Medicare or go to Medicare.gov to get information on all of your options.