Ask the Expert: If you leave work, get Medicare

COBRA will cover me for 18 months in my former employer's health insurance plan. But I'm 66 years old, and the Social Security Administration told me I must enroll in Medicare Part B within seven months to avoid a penalty. However, a very knowledgeable broker told me I can wait until COBRA ends. If I enroll sooner, I'd be paying for Medicare Part B, Part D and a supplemental policy, in addition to COBRA. Who's correct?

Nobody. You should enroll in Medicare immediately if you can. If you've already left your job, you may be unable to get Medicare until 2011 - and that could leave you temporarily uninsured.

When you're insured through active employment in a company with 20 or more workers, your plan is primary even after you turn 65; you can postpone enrolling in Medicare until eight months after your last day on the job or the end of your employer-sponsored coverage, whichever comes first. But when you extend post-job coverage through COBRA, you don't get the eight-month grace period. Some plans terminate COBRA as soon as you're 65. Even if you can keep it, COBRA becomes secondary - i.e., it will only pay for what Medicare doesn't cover.

If you're on COBRA, your Medicare enrollment deadline is three months after your 65th birthday. If you can show you missed it because you were misinformed by a government official, you may get Medicare retroactively and penalty-free. If not, you can't sign up until 2011 general enrollment (Jan. 1 to March 31) for Medicare that starts July 1. And you'll pay more for it. When you enroll late, your Part B premium is 10 percent higher for each year of delay.

The bottom line When you're insured through COBRA, Medicare becomes your primary coverage as soon as you turn 65.

Websites with more information bit.ly/agDmf8 and bit.ly/bC1Yn2