When you become eligible for Medicare and you’re employed or unemployed, how does Medicare work? It depends on a few factors - let us break it down for you!
Created by DeafHealth with the support of the Patient Advocate Foundation and Pfizer, these videos on Medicare in American Sign Language (ASL) will give you the skills to make informed decisions about your coverage, the benefits offered by Medicare, and how to use your insurance confidently. The videos cover different topics including Medicare Parts A, B, C, D, and Medigap Plans.
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Video Description: The post has a video thumbnail with blue shading overlaid. The top middle has "If you’re employed or unemployed” in white text with light blue background, accompanied by a yellow bubble with “Medicare” in blue. In the video: A young woman with brown curly hair is standing in front of the camera with decorative items behind her. She is wearing a black top and skirt with metallic-framed glasses.
Transcript: When you become eligible for Medicare and you’re employed or unemployed, how does Medicare work? If you’re still employed and have health insurance coverage from your job or your spouse’s job, it depends on a few factors. If you have health insurance through your current job or your spouse’s, you don’t have to sign up for Medicare while you or your spouse are still working. You can wait to enroll until you or your spouse stop working, or when you lose health insurance. If you’re still working and may keep your employer’s coverage, speak with your benefits administrator so you can decide when you should enroll in Part B. If you’re self-employed or have health insurance that’s not available to everyone at the company, still ask your insurance provider if your coverage is an employer-group health plan. If it’s not, sign up for Medicare when you turn 65 to avoid a late enrollment penalty. If your employer has less than 20 employees, you might need to sign up for Medicare when you turn 65; check with your employer first. If you’re unemployed, you may have COBRA coverage, or temporary coverage for certain situations when you lose your job-based coverage. It's best to sign up for Medicare as soon as you are eligible to avoid a lapse in coverage and avoid a late enrollment penalty. Once you enroll in Medicare, your COBRA coverage will likely end. If you have Medicare Part A or Part B and then become eligible for COBRA, you can choose to enroll in COBRA. COBRA may be a good option if you have high medical expenses and your COBRA plan offers other needed benefits. If you enroll in COBRA, Medicare will become your primary insurance, and COBRA will be your secondary. Medicare will pay most of your healthcare costs, and COBRA will only pay for costs that Medicare doesn’t cover. COBRA can be expensive. If you don’t have many medical expenses, you may be better off just sticking with just Medicare. [The screen fades to show a thumbnail of a faded white background of a doctor holding hands with another individual] Deaf. Healthy. DeafHealth. Learn more at www.deafhealthaccess.org. [The screen fades to show a thumbnail of a blue lighthouse] Paf. Patient Advocate Foundation. www.patientadvocate.org.