Activating Medicare Part B Before Group Health Plan Ends

To activate Part B of Medicare when leaving an employer group plan, you will need to submit two forms to Social Security to enroll in Part B. The first form is the Part B application. The second form verifies that you had creditable employer group health insurance and NOT subject to any late enrollment penalty.

[@magnetoman88]

Great information, especially that you can’t get a supplemental plan until you are enrolled in Part B. You say to “start early” -- in your opinion, is 6 weeks before group coverage ends early enough? Kind of sounds like it might not be. And my last day could be 12/31 so there’s holidays in the last 2 months that could cause things to take longer.

[@KevinKnauss]

Some of the instructions state you can specify the Part B effective date 3 months after the submission of the application. I see no harm in staring the process October 1, for a January 1 effective date.