1. Do not miss  your Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) You must sign up for Medicare when you are 65. If you are working you’ll still need to sign up for Part A. The IEP is a 7 month period (3 months before, your birthday month, and three months after your 65^th birthday).  Miss it and you face penalties when you do finally sign up. However, there are some special circumstances that you do not need to do this. One of those is if you are currently working and have credible coverage through that employer. 2. Don’t Stay on COBRA Too Long If you stop work and go onto COBRA, you have a limited time period to sign up for Medicare. If delay, you will then have to wait for the General Enrollment Period (Jan. 1 – March 31) to enroll. Then, Part B of Medicare will go into effect July 1. 3. Don’t Think Medicare is Free For most people, there is no cost to you for Medicare Part A (hospital coverage).  However, most seniors will have to pay a premium of $104.90/month for Medicare Part B (doctor visits/outpatient care, etc..   Medicare Part B only pays about 80% of your costs. You will have to pay the other 20%- if you do not have other coverage.  Other coverage, such as a Medicare Advantage Plan though Keystone 65, or a Medicare Supplement Plan through AARP also have a cost. 4. Make sure you shop around and get the right plan at the lowest cost Coverage, costs, benefits vary  among insurance companies offering Medicare Advantage and Medicare Drug plans.  Medicare supplement plans are standardized (all companies must offer the same benefits) but the prices can vary by hundreds of dollars between companies.  Shop around to get onto the right plan at the lowest cost. Avoiding these mistakes are critical. It’s all pretty confusing. Let us help-we will make sure you fully understand all your options and will walk you though every step of the way. Best of all, there is no cost for our services! Just call us at 215-658-1776