Many people have a hard time with deciding between enrolling for Medicare or staying with employer insurance. But what if we told you that it’s possible to have both? If you receive group healthcare coverage from your employer and you are over 65, then you are eligible for Medicare. 

In this article, we’ll consider how Medicare coverage works with employer insurance and what to consider before you enroll for Medicare.

What is Employer Insurance?

Employer insurance or a group health plan is a type of health insurance that is offered by an organization or company to their active employees. The employer insurance covers different types of healthcare services for the employees and their dependents in some cases. 

The employee health coverage is mostly required to conform to the federal healthcare laws. The federal laws include no limits on important health benefits, free precautionary healthcare services, and provision of healthcare coverage to employees with existing health conditions at equal rates.

Though most employee health plans provide the basic benefits, it is important to know if it is necessary to enroll for additional coverage through Medicare. 

When to Choose Medicare

There are certain conditions where you may have to choose to enroll for Medicare or not if you have employer health benefits. For individuals who work in a company with less than 20 employees, they must enroll for Medicare as they may face a late enrollment penalty if they enroll at a later date. For those who become eligible by age, they can enroll for Medicare three months before their 65th birthday and up to three months after. This is known as the Initial Enrollment Period, and it is highly advised that all Medicare-eligible individuals enroll during this period to avoid penalties.

However, if the employer has 20 employees or more, then the employee may choose to delay enrollment without facing any late enrollment penalties.

If your company has fewer than 20 employees and you have Medicare, Medicare will serve as the primary insurance. However, if you work at a company with 20 or more full time employees and you receive health coverage, Medicare will serve as the secondary insurance.

Determining which plan is best for you really depends on the coverage you need and your budget. While we still highly advise you to at least enroll in Part A as soon as you are eligible, it is very important that you breakdown the costs and coverage of your employer insurance and compare it with that of Medicare. 
For more information on which Medicare plan could work best with your employer coverage, give Game Changing Benefits a call today.