Insurance Education Personalization

Warren Equipment Company

Warren Equipment Company has partnered with Individual Insurance Solutions, LLC to provide educational information and consultation about Medicare and individual healthcare products.

Our job is to assist you with making sure you understand what Medicare is, how it works, and what options are available to best cover yourself and your dependents as you are eligible for Medicare.

Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming Medicare Eligible:

  • Plan on evaluating your Medicare options 3-6 months in advance.
  • If your spouse continues to work, and they have group insurance offered through their employer you should evaluate the benefits and cost of their group plan in comparison to Medicare plans offered for yourself.
Personalized Coverage Options
If you decide to stay on your spouse’s group health plan and contributions are not being made or received in a Health Savings Account (H.S.A.) you should enroll in Medicare Part A, and not Part B.  If contributions are being made or received on your behalf, you should not enroll in Medicare Part A.
  • If your spouse does not work:
    • If both of you are turning age 65, both of you need to move to Medicare.
    • If your spouse is younger than 65 you need to determine which option is best to bridge them to age 65.
      • If you terminate when Medicare is made effective your spouse is eligible for 36 months of COBRA. Please verify this with your HR department.
      • Individual health plans are available and depending on the Modified Adjusted Gross Income your spouse may be eligible for a Premium Tax Credit that can make the health insurance more affordable.
  • If you have dependent children, you will need to cover them on one of the following options:
    • COBRA
    • Individual Health Plan
    • Short Term Medical Plan
Personalized Coverage Options
Feel free to contact Individual Insurance Solutions, LLC with questions at:
  • If you are turning age 65 and continuing to work, you need to know the following:
    • Do not worry about incurring penalties if you continue to be covered by your employer’s creditable group health plan.
    • If you are continuing to work, you need to determine if you should enroll in Medicare Part A.
      • If you are making or receiving contributions to a Health Savings Account, you should not enroll in Medicare Part A.
      • If you are not making or receiving contributions to a Health Savings Account, you should enroll in Medicare Part A.
        • Benefits of enrolling in Medicare Part A while working are the following:
          • There is not a premium for Medicare Part A if you have worked in the United States for 40 quarters or more.
          • Part A will pay secondary to your group coverage so it can pay some of your unpaid hospital claims.
          • Should you need to elect Part B quickly it makes applying for Part B easier.
        • Do not enroll in Medicare Part B. There is no reason to enroll in Medicare Part B as it has a premium, and you will not receive a penalty for not being enrolled if you have creditable group health insurance coverage.
        • You will have an open enrollment event when leaving group coverage and you will be able to enroll in Medicare Part B.

Feel free to contact Individual Insurance Solutions, LLC with questions at:
Since you are covered by creditable group health coverage you have not incurred any penalties for not being enrolled in Medicare Part A or B.  You do need to follow some rules, so you do not incur any penalties.
  • First, determine your retirement date and start visiting with Individual Insurance Solutions, LLC 3-6 months in advance.
  • You will need to follow the following steps to have seamless coverage and not incur any penalties:
    • Once you are within 3 months of your retirement date you need to apply for Medicare Part A and B if you have not already.
    • If you have Medicare Part A and B you need to have a representative help you with determining if a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage plan is best for you. In addition, you will need to have your prescriptions priced to determine which Prescription Drug Plan is best for your situation.
    • If you only have Medicare Part A you need to apply for Medicare Part B timely. You need to complete Form 40B (Part B application) and note the date that Part B needs to be effective (refer to the Forms drop down for Form 40B along with instructions).  You will also need to have your HR department complete Form L564 that will indicate you have had creditable coverage since turning age 65.  If you have had other employers since turning age 65 you will need to get a form L564 from them as well.  Once both forms are completed our recommendation is for you to personally deliver these to your local Social Security office.
    • If you do not have either Medicare Part A or Medicare Part B you will need to follow the instructions above for Part B and when you deliver your Part B forms to your local Social Security office, you will need to let them know that you also need Medicare Part A.
Personalized Coverage Options
Feel free to contact Individual Insurance Solutions, LLC with questions or once you have delivered the necessary forms to your local Social Security office, please contact us so we can assist you with determining if a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage plan is best for you:

If you or your spouse are turning age 65 or are age 65+ and leaving employment, please note that you do not want to elect COBRA.  By electing COBRA, you would be incurring penalties, and you would be negatively affected for your election periods when enrolling in Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage or Prescription Drug Plan coverage.

  • COBRA is not recognized as creditable coverage.
    • If you elect COBRA instead of Medicare Part B you will only be able to enroll in Medicare Part B during the General Election Period which is between January 1st through March 31st, and Part B will be effective the following month.
    • For every 12 months that you are not enrolled in Medicare Part B you will be incurring a penalty of 10% and the penalty stays with you for life.
    • If you elect COBRA vs. enrolling in a Medicare Supplement when leaving employment, you will bypass your open enrollment period. If you wish to enroll in a Medicare Supplement later, you will have to answer medical questions and you could be declined or be charged additional premiums.
    • By enrolling in COBRA, you will bypass your open enrollment period for Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan coverage. You will only be able to enroll during the Annual Election Period which is between October 15th and December 7th for a January 1st effective date. 
    • If you do take COBRA, it will only be secondary to Medicare and if you do not have COBRA, it will pay as if you have COBRA. This is called a Medicare Assumption.

* It is best to not enroll in COBRA if you are eligible for Medicare, and you can incur penalties and negatively affect your open enrollment window.

Feel free to contact Individual Insurance Solutions, LLC with questions at:

Frequently Asked Questions About Losing Medical Coverage Below Age 65:

If you and your spouse are retiring prior to age 65, you both will need to bridge health care coverage until Medicare eligibility and you both have several options.
  • First, COBRA is a good option in the following situations:
    • If the number of months is short until Medicare eligibility.
    • If the providers that need to be seen are only in the PPO or HMO network of the group insurance plan.
    • If deductibles and out of pockets have been met for the calendar year.
  • Second, purchasing an individual health plan can be a good idea for the following reasons:
    • You could be eligible for premium tax credits for an individual health plan.
    • There is not a time limit on the number of months of coverage, only until age 65.
    • If you both file a joint tax return with household income (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) between $14,580 and $78,880 you could qualify for a premium tax credit.
  • Third, short term medical plans can be a good idea when either COBRA has expired, or you find this coverage to be better suited for your situation than an individual health plan.
Personalized Coverage Options
Feel free to contact Individual Insurance Solutions, LLC with questions at:
If your child needs to continue with health insurance, they should consider the following:
  • Are they eligible for health insurance through their employment?
  • If they have an income between 100% of the Federal Poverty Level ($14,580) and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level ($58,320), they could qualify for a premium tax credit that can make health insurance premiums very affordable.
  • If they need health insurance coverage for a short period of time, they should consider a Short-Term Medical plan.
Personalized Coverage Options
Feel free to contact Individual Insurance Solutions, LLC with questions at:

Medicare Premiums

Three Part Medicare Presentation

Introduction And Basics Of Medicare

Which Medicare Plan Is Best For Me?

When And How To Apply For Medicare?

Medicare Forms

Personalized Coverage Options

Medicare Coverages - Age 65+
Health Insurance - Under Age 65

Top ten list of important Medicare items

  1. Medicare is effective on the first of your birthday month, and not on your birthday. If your birthday is on the 1st day of the month, Medicare will be effective the month prior.  (i.e., May 1st birthday, your Medicare effective date will be April 1st).
  2. Health Savings Account Implications: If you are contributing or receiving contributions to a Health Savings Account (H.S.A.), you cannot be enrolled in Medicare Part A. If you are working and you are not receiving or making contributions to an H.S.A. you should enroll in Medicare Part A.
  3. Medicare Part A becomes effective automatically when you start receiving Social Security income benefits. Also, it is retroactive when activated at age 65+.
  4. Be aware of how your income affects the cost of Medicare Part B. Become familiar with Medicare Part B Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAA).  Remember to file a SSA–44 form to request a reduction in IRMAA if your income is now or will be lower.
  5. Do not enroll in Medicare Part B if you are covered by your employers group health plan.
  6. Do not worry about penalties for Medicare Part B or Part D if you are age 65+ and covered by your employers group health plan. Make sure you get Medicare Part B and D upon leaving your employer so that there is not a lapse in coverage.
  7. Travel Benefits – Just know that Medicare does not cover you outside of the United States.
  8. You can change from a Medicare Supplement to a Medicare Advantage plan during the Annual Election Period (AEP).
  9. If you want to change from a Medicare Advantage plan to a Medicare Supplement plan you will have to complete a medical questionnaire and be approved for coverage, unless you are in the trial period (first 12 months of being on a Medicare Advantage plan).
  10. If you are Medicare eligible you should not elect COBRA as you will incur penalties.

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