It is important to understand your Medicare open em-ollment period. Medicare
supplement insurance companies are generally allowed to use medical underwriting to
decide whether to accept your application, and how much to charge you for a Medicare
supplement insurance policy. Remember that if you apply during your Medicare open
enrollment period you can buy any Medicare insurance policy the company sells, even if
you have health problems, for the same price as people with good health. If you apply
for a Medicare supplement insurance policy after your open em-ollment period, there is no guarantee that an insurance company will sell you a supplement insurance policy at all if
you don't meet the medical underwriting requirements.

It is also important to understand that your Medicare supplement insurance rights may
depend on when you choose to enroll in Medicare Part B. Age 65 or over?, your
Medicare insurance open enrollment period begins when you em-oll in Medicare Part B,
and can't be changed or repeated. In most cases it makes sense to enroll when you are
able to for Medicare Part B, unless otherwise you still have group health coverage
through an employer.

If you have group health coverage through an employer or union, either because you are
for the time working or your spouse is, you should wait to em-all in Medicare Part B. This
is because employer plans often provide coverage similar to Medicare supplement
insurance, so you don't need a supplement insurance policy. When your employer
coverage ends, you will get a chance to enroll in Part B without a late em-ollment penalty,
and your Medicare open em-ollment period will begain when you are prapared to take
advaJltage of it. If you are enrolled in Medicare Part B while under the employer
coverage, your Medicare open emollment period would start.

Colorado however, if you happen to be the age of 65 working and elect to stay on the
employer sponsored insurance plan, some insurance companies may require you to sign
up for Medicare Part B. In Colorado, for groups of 50 employees or more, Medicare
becomes primary if you are signed on the Medicare Part B, and insurance compaines
typically provide a premium discount for the employer if the employee is signed up on
Medicare Part B. If you sign-up for Medicare Part B, you become subject to the PaJt B
premium, and the company may not reimburse you for this amount.
When you leave your current employment however, you may still guaranteed insurance of a
Medicare supplement insurance policy if applied for within 60 days of terminating
employment, as long as you can document you were on an employer group policy.
or you forfeit your open enrollment period..

Here's the bottom line. You need to understand Medicare supplement insurance as it
relates to the open enrollment period. If you miss signing up for a Medicare supplement
insurance policy beyond the 60 days following employment, you become subject to
medical underwriting. This simply means if you have medical conditions, the Medicare
supplement insurance company does not have to issue the policy, and probably won't. At
that point, you are forced to go to a Medicare Advantage Plan, which is subject to
deductibles, co-insurance and co-pays.

When you are first eligible for Medicare, it is important to always be working with a proffessional agent who
is wise about the options. You can see by the above example the importance
Of understanding the timing of Medicare Part B and the way it may change your choice of a
Medicare supplement insurance policy. remember if you are still employed, and under a group
plan, and you should not be signing up for Medicare Part B, unless it is a requirment of the
insurance company underwriting the risk.

As you already know, signing up for Medicare is very confusing!