# medicare part b



## Jane (Nov 2, 2017)

I'm on disability and receive benefits from social security. I had to drop part b years ago because I couldn't afford the premium.

I wrote them asking if there is a $0 premium,so word yet.

Does anyone know it there is such a thing?


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## Smiling Jane (Nov 3, 2017)

Jane, I suggest you get in touch with your Social Security office and your state agency that admiisters Medicaid. Make appointments to see people who can help. If in-person appointments are too difficult for you, get on the phone or online and make people at those agencies deal with you. Writing a letter doesn't work because it will only get shuffled to the bottom of a big stack of letters.

I would be surprised if you aren't eligible for benefits you aren't receiving.

Best wishes.

Another Jane


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## Jane (Nov 3, 2017)

*Social security*

They told me to contact medicaid.  No help.





Smiling Jane said:


> Jane, I suggest you get in touch with your Social Security office and your state agency that admiisters Medicaid. Make appointments to see people who can help. If in-person appointments are too difficult for you, get on the phone or online and make people at those agencies deal with you. Writing a letter doesn't work because it will only get shuffled to the bottom of a big stack of letters.
> 
> I would be surprised if you aren't eligible for benefits you aren't receiving.
> 
> ...


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## Butterfly (Nov 8, 2017)

According to the social security website, you automatically get Parts A and B after you have been receiving SS disability benefits for 24 months.  HOWEVER, you said you gave it up years ago.  The problem may be that since you gave it up voluntarily, you may be required to pay a penalty if you try to sign up now. 

The penalty for late signup for Part B is 10% on the premium per year for each year you were eligible for Part B but failed to sign up for it.  So, if you waited 4 years, your increase in premium would be 40%.  

HOWEVER, when you turn 65, this may change.  The AARP website posts this question and answer by one of their Medicare consultants,  which seems to mirror your dilemma:

*"Q. My wife went on Medicare because of disability in 1995, but  later dropped Part B because she was covered on my employer’s health  plan. When I lost my insurance, she went back on Part B. But she has to  pay a large late penalty on top of her premiums. She’s currently 63. Is  there any way out of this situation?*

A. *Yes. When your wife turns 65, she’ll no longer pay the Part B late penalty. Here’s why:
*

  When you qualify for Social Security disability payments under age  65, after a time you also become entitled to Medicare health coverage.  You receive Medicare Part A (hospital services) automatically and can  choose to enroll in Part B (doctors and other outpatient services)  within a certain time frame. This time frame counts as your “initial  enrollment period.” If you don’t sign up for Part B during this time, or  enroll and drop out later on, you’ll incur a late penalty if you do  finally enroll in Part B while still under age 65. The late penalty is  an additional 10 percent of the Part B premium for each full year that  you were without Part B when you were eligible for it.


*But everything changes when you reach 65. At the end of the month  before the month in which you turn 65, you lose your entitlement to  Medicare based on disability. At the beginning of the month you turn 65,  your entitlement to Medicare based on becoming 65 begins. In other  words, you get a second initial enrollment period. At that point the  clock is reset, and Medicare coverage begins anew as though you’d never  had it before.*

  This arrangement means that if you were paying any late penalties for  Part B or Part D (drug coverage), you will no longer do so."


SO, PLEASE keep after Social Security (I have better luck on their 800 number than I do with our local office, even in person).  Our local office here does not seem always to give out good information for whatever reason.  As someone above said, you can call the 800 number and make an appointment for them to call you back, and they actually DO.  Get the number from medicare.gov website.

Be sure  you tell them *all* your details, about your age and about the fact that you turned down part B when you did because you couldn't afford it.  According to what I am reading on the Medicare website, I think you can get around the penalty if you are not yet 65, and probably even if you are 65 the penalty would run from when you turned 65 and not when you turned Part B down.  Stay on them until you get a clear answer and then ask them to confirm it in writing.  If the first agent you get can't help you, ask for a supervisor.  Be prepared to spend a while on the phone.  You have to be your own advocate, and stay after them (politely, of course, until you get a definitive answer).

ALSO, please know that there is a Medicare program called "Extra Help" which helps pay your deductible for Part D prescriptions; it is based on income.  You have to apply for it and the people on the phone can tell you how.  We were able to get this for my sister, and it makes a big difference for her, especially on a couple of drugs she takes which are Tier 3 drugs.  Please don't decline Part D coverage -- you will seriously regret it later on.


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## terry123 (Nov 8, 2017)

I know for a fact that SS will call you back.  Its the best route to take.


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## Jane (Nov 8, 2017)

Thank you,but it will still use up minutes I can't afford. 





terry123 said:


> I know for a fact that SS will call you back.  Its the best route to take.


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## Jane (Nov 8, 2017)

It is all so complicated,I'm having a hard time with all the information. Thank you for typing all of it out.





Butterfly said:


> According to the social security website, you automatically get Parts A and B after you have been receiving SS disability benefits for 24 months.  HOWEVER, you said you gave it up years ago.  The problem may be that since you gave it up voluntarily, you may be required to pay a penalty if you try to sign up now.
> 
> The penalty for late signup for Part B is 10% on the premium per year for each year you were eligible for Part B but failed to sign up for it.  So, if you waited 4 years, your increase in premium would be 40%.
> 
> ...


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## Butterfly (Nov 9, 2017)

Jane said:


> Thank you,but it will still use up minutes I can't afford.



Jane, with respect, do find a way to call them.  It will save you *WAAAAY* more than the cost  of the minutes in the end -- the cost of doctors' visits is astronomical without Part B.  I'd rather find a way to pay for minutes than find myself in a position where I could not get medical care I need because of $$.

Do you have a friend with unlimited minutes  who might allow you to use their phone for the call?  Or someone with a land line?  I've a neighbor who has come over and used my land line for things like this a couple of times.  Or your church. or a senior center or something like that?  

OR, you could just make an appointment and go park yourself at your local Social Security office and see if you can get help there.  I'm not saying ALL local offices are not helpful, just that in my experience (part of my old job was sometimes to help out disabled persons sort out what they were entitled to) the office here is sometimes not very helpful.

How close are you to 65?  The closer you are to 65, the more urgent you get this sorted out soon, because the time to sign up for part B without penalty starts to run again then.  You don't want to find yourself locked out of Part B forever because of a phone call you can't make.


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## Smiling Jane (Nov 9, 2017)

Jane, quit with the _yes but_ routine and find a phone you can use to make that call. _Yes but_ keeps you stuck right where you are.

Butterfly, so far I have found one helpful person at our local SS office who didn't act like he resented me for being there. There's probably a ratio of 100:1 and I managed to luck out that day. He helped me get started with good information, he told me I was eligible for programs I didn't know about and he was good at explaining in actual English.

I have also found that going there on a very busy day is not a good plan. One time I arrived there not realizing for some reason hundreds of people needed a copy of their annual benefits statement. Waiting in a long line, I explained to several people around me that they could go to the public library, access their benefits statement and print it rather than spending the day at the SS office. The people who work at the SS office are only human, and seeing that mass of humanity at any given time probably puts them in overload mode. It's also very bad timing for anyone who needs help.


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## Jane (Nov 16, 2017)

I heard from someone here I would be penalized for getting back on medicare part b.How dumb is that?





Jane said:


> I'm on disability and receive benefits from social security. I had to drop part b years ago because I couldn't afford the premium.
> 
> I wrote them asking if there is a $0 premium,so word yet.
> 
> Does anyone know it there is such a thing?


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## Jane (Nov 21, 2017)

Is there any health insurance that has what I asked?





Jane said:


> I'm on disability and receive benefits from social security. I had to drop part b years ago because I couldn't afford the premium.
> 
> I wrote them asking if there is a $0 premium,so word yet.
> 
> Does anyone know it there is such a thing?


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## Butterfly (Nov 22, 2017)

I do not believe you will find any $0 premium insurance, except Medicaid; and if you are on Social Security disability, you automatically get switched over to Medicare after two years, like it or not.  The "extra help" plan I mentioned above, available in most states, will pay your part B premium for you until you are 65 and qualify for SS retirement.


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