Your exact 65th birthday
The seven-month window is built around the month, and starting three months early avoids a coverage gap.
Who we help · Turning 65
Seven months, and the clock has already started
Your Initial Enrolment Period is seven months long: the three months before the month you turn 65, your birthday month, and the three months after. Most of the expensive mistakes in Medicare happen inside those seven months.
When exactly do I sign up, and for what?
If you are already taking Social Security, you are usually enrolled in Part A and Part B automatically. If you are not, nothing happens unless you act. That is the single most common surprise we deal with, and it is why we start conversations at 64 and a half rather than at 65.
If you are still working at a large employer with creditable coverage, you may be able to delay Part B without penalty and take a Special Enrolment Period when the job ends. If the employer is small, the rules can flip and Medicare may be primary. Keep the creditable coverage letter either way; it is the document that prevents a penalty argument later.
Then comes the real decision: Medicare Advantage or Original Medicare with a Supplement and a standalone Part D plan. It is a genuine trade between network flexibility and cost, and your Medigap guaranteed-issue window, six months from when you are 65 and enrolled in Part B, is the one time health history does not count against you.
Whether you are taking Social Security
It decides whether enrolment is automatic or entirely up to you.
Employer coverage details
Employer size and a creditable coverage letter. Keep the letter.
Every prescription with the dose
It drives the Part D or Advantage drug comparison more than anything else.
Your doctors and hospitals
And whether you travel or spend part of the year elsewhere.
Where it goes wrong
The mistakes we see most often
- 01
Missing the Part B window. The late enrolment penalty is generally 10% of the standard premium for every full 12-month period you could have had it, and it can last as long as you have Part B.
- 02
Letting the six-month Medigap guaranteed-issue window close. After it, most Tennessee applications face medical underwriting.
- 03
Assuming a Health Savings Account can keep receiving contributions after Medicare starts. It cannot, and Part A can be backdated up to six months.
- 04
Choosing on the extras. A hearing allowance is nice; an in-network oncologist is not negotiable.
Free tool · enrolment windows
The windows are real deadlines, and they close
Miss one and you wait a year, unless something specific has happened.
36
days until Open Enrolment opens
November 1
80
days to the December 15 deadline
for a January 1 start
72
days until Medicare AEP closes
December 7
60
days is your Special Enrolment clock
from the event, not from when you noticed
Open Enrolment
November 1 to January 15
ACA Marketplace, individuals and families
Enrol by December 15 for a January 1 start
After January 15 you need a qualifying life event to enrol at all.
Medicare Annual Enrolment
October 15 to December 7
Anyone on Medicare Advantage or Part D
Changes take effect January 1
This is when we re-run your drug list against next year's plans.
Medicare Advantage Open Enrolment
January 1 to March 31
People already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan
One change allowed
You can switch Advantage plans or return to Original Medicare with a Part D plan.
Initial Enrolment Period
Seven months around your 65th birthday
Anyone approaching 65
Three months before, your birthday month, three months after
Enrolling in the three months before avoids a gap. Missing it can create a lifetime Part B penalty.
Confirm current dates at HealthCare.gov or Medicare.gov before you rely on them.
Questions from turning 65 clients
Often not, if the employer plan is creditable and the employer is large enough. The rules turn on employer size, so bring the details and the letter and we will work it through.
A real trade-off. Supplement means any Medicare provider and predictable cost at a higher fixed premium. Advantage means a network and prior authorisation at a lower premium with extras. We show both, on your doctors and your drugs.
Nothing. We are paid by the carrier you choose, and Medicare plan premiums are set by the plan, not by us.
Twenty minutes usually settles it
Bring your prescriptions, the doctors you want to keep and a rough income number. We do the rest.
Our help is free to you. We are paid by the carrier you choose, and the premium is the same whether you use us or enrol on your own.