Medicare Enrollment Periods Explained | Medicare Made Easy

When can you sign up for Medicare? This is a very common question that can be confusing for most people. There are several enrollment periods, and I’m going to simplify each of them for you in chronological order.

Initial Enrollment Period (IEP)

So, the first enrollment period is called your Initial Enrollment Period, or IEP, which is 7 months long. It’s an enrollment window that begins 3 months prior to your birth month, the month you were born, and lasts 3 months after your birth month. Your Medicare would start the first day of your birth month unless you were born on the 1st, then it would begin the 1st day of the previous month. If you became eligible for Medicare due to a disability, your 7-month IEP includes the month you receive your 25th disability check, plus the 3 months before, and the 3 months after.

General Enrollment Period (GEP)

Now, if you happened to miss that 7 month window and you don’t have creditable coverage, meaning you’re not working or have a Group plan in place, then you will have to wait to enroll into Medicare during the next enrollment period which is called the General Enrollment Period, or GEP. This period happens every year from January 1st to March 31st. Now, if you do enroll during GEP, then your effective date for you’re Medicare A & B coverage would start on July 1st. So, you can sign between Jan and March, but it wont take effect until July so just keep that in mind.

Medicare Supplement Open Enrollment

The next enrollment period is your Medicare Supplement or Medigap Open Enrollment. This is a 6-month period that begins the month you are 65 or older and are enrolled in Medicare Part B. During this period, you cannot be denied coverage or charged a higher premium based upon on your health history. This is what we call Guaranteed Issue, or GI. This is the only time in your life that you can enroll into a Medicare Supplement plan without answering any health questions to qualify.

Special Enrollment Period (SEP)
And the last enrollment period is called the Special Enrollment Period, or SEP. This period allows you to enroll in Medicare, without a penalty, outside of the IEP or GEP. For example, let’s say you’re turning 65 but you decide to continue working. At that point you’ll have to weigh out your options and decide if you want to keep your group plan, as long as your group plan is considered to be creditable coverage, meaning as good as Medicare, OR enroll into Medicare at that time. If you do decide to keep your group coverage, and you end up retiring a couple years later, then you would be eligible to use your SEP to enroll into Parts A & B of Medicare. This is an eight-month period that begins the month after the last month of employment or group coverage, whichever comes first. This can also be utilized if you are covered under your spouse’s group plan. You can also enroll in a MA plan or PDP up to 2 full months after the month your employment or group plan ends.

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