Medicare Signup Goes Awry

Some people’s recent experience with the Social Security and Medicare sign-up process has been smooth. Mine for Medicare? Not so much.

I turned 65 in November 2024 and wanted Medicare Part B to start January 1, 2025. Medicare.gov says that if you apply in the month after your birthday, Part B will start the following month. Perfect! I filed for Medicare on the Social Security site on December 2nd and even included a note that I wanted Part B coverage to start January 1. My application was processed on December 4th (very timely!) but with Part B starting December 1. 

I called SS on December 6th and was told I needed to file a form to terminate Medicare and was given the wording to put in the form to indicate I actually wanted the start date changed from December 1 to January 1. I filed this form on December 9th. Two weeks later, I received a letter stating that my Part B coverage would be terminated effective January 31!

I called SS on December 26th and was told to file a “Request for Reconsideration” (basically, an appeal). I filed it on December 27th. The SS site says appeals are generally handled within 60 days. On multiple calls during and after the 60 days, I was told the appeal would be approved and SS would fix their mistake.

By mid March, no action had been taken, so I made an appointment at the local SS office for April 2nd. At the appointment, a kind employee told me the appeal would be approved within two weeks and gave me her and her boss’s phone numbers encouraging me to call if it wasn’t approved.

You might be able to guess what happened, or didn’t happen. The appeal was not approved (and not denied either) and multiple calls to both numbers went to voicemail with never a callback. In late April, I gave up and re-applied for Part B coverage.

SS’s error cost me about $1,000 – an extra Part B premium, tier 3 IRMAA charges for December (since I did significant Roth conversions in 2022, anticipating I would not start Medicare until 2025), and unplanned medical costs incurred in February and March when I didn’t have coverage, net of the premiums I “saved” while I did not have coverage.

My advice if you want Part B coverage to start the following month is to wait until at least the 10th of the month to file and don’t file for SS benefits at the same time as that could delay the whole process. Good luck!