Q. I’ll retire at the end of the year, and fortunately my retiree benefits include medical and prescription drug insurance. Do I need to enroll in Medicare?

A.  There’s no reason not to sign up for Part A hospital insurance (see reasons here).  But you’ll have to think carefully about Part B (medical insurance).  These are your options:

•    You can sign up for Part B within eight months of retiring and possibly pay two sets of monthly premiums—one for your retiree coverage (if it requires a premium) and one for Part B.  Or

•    You can choose not to sign up for Part B within eight months of retiring. But be aware that if at some future date you lose your retiree health coverage (or decide to drop it) and want to join Part B at that time, you would pay a late penalty on all future Part B premiums. The penalty amount would be an additional 10 percent of the cost of the premium for each year since your retirement, as explained  here) 

Part D (prescription drug insurance) has different requirements. You do not need to sign up for Part D as long as your retiree drug coverage is at least as good as Medicare’s. The administrator of your retiree health plan can tell you whether it is or not.

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