If you have Marketplace Health Insurance and you’re getting to the age where you’re going to qualify for Medicare, it’s never too early to start planning for your switch.
When to Apply for Medicare
When your Medicare eligibility begins, you have seven months of an Initial Enrollment Period to sign up for medicare. This is three months before, the month during, and three months after your 65th birthday.
Once your coverage starts with medicare, this will mean that you have to pay full price for your Marketplace coverage, as your eligibility for premium tax credit or other help you may have to cover your costs becomes null and void.
There are also late enrollment penalties if you enroll in Medicare after the Initial Enrollment Period. Be sure to coordinate the end date of your coverage with Marketplace with the start date of your Medicare coverage. The last thing anyone needs is a gap in coverage. Better to be safe than sorry.
How to Cancel your Marketplace Coverage
If you are the only person using the Marketplace insurance plan, you can just cancel your plan. However, if your spouse or other members of your household are enrolled on the same plan, and you’re the only one eligible for coverage with Medicare, the only thing you have to do is cancel the coverage for yourself. This way, the other people on the plan can keep their insurance.
Step-by-Step Instructions: How and When to Cancel your Marketplace Plan: Turning 65
We already know about the Initial Enrollment Period being 7 months to sign up for Medicare. However, if you’re receiving benefits from Social Security (SSI) or the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) at least four months before you turn 65 (before your IEP begins), you’ll get both Medicare Parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Medical Insurance) without the need to sign up for it.
If you’re the one who created the account on Marketplace and filled out the application for you and your dependents and/or spouse, you have to contact the Marketplace Call Center. However, if you’re canceling the plan altogether, you can cancel it online. This is only if you want to end coverage as a whole, otherwise, you have to call.