by John Sarkis

Created on: August 31, 2008   Last Updated: February 16, 2009

Medicare doesn't become your primary insurance when you turn 65 years of age if you're still working. If you're active and still working full time when you turn 65, Medicare will be secondary to the health insurance offered by your employer. If for some reason your employer doesn't offer health insurance, then you can get Medicare, but a very (extremely) important caveat: you should be in contact with your Medicare representative to explain all this to her/him, otherwise when the medical entities you've been seeing by bill for their services; Medicare will deny their claims (stating COB: "Coordination of Benefits" means: the insurance carrier/Medicare, etc, thinks there is a primary insurance company involved who should be billed first). Of course if you have insurance by your employer; it's very important that you contact your Medicare representative and explain this to them so they can update your records. It's not uncommon for people today to be well into their 70's, and still be working; hence having Medicare as their secondary insurance.

Medicare's annual deductible: part A (hospital) is $1,024 a year, and part B (physician) is: $135.00 a year. Another important caveat which people miss when trying to grasp this: Until the medical entity you've had services by bills: your Medicare deductible will not be meet. Let's say for example: a doctor bills his/her claim to Medicare for services rendered on 1-3-08, hypothetically speaking; the claim will be applied to your deductible hence clearing you with Medicare. What many people don't understand is: you now owe the doctor this money. The same analogy can be used for hospital stays (known in the business as the "technical component" of the bill), which ever entity bills their claim first; their claim/bill will be applied to your deductible making you responsible to pay the medical entity or doctor which rendered rendered services to you.

What are "Medi-gap" supplemental insurances? If you're ready to "turn in the towel" as they say at 65, and don't wish to continue working; you should contact Medicare immediately and explain this to them in detail. This might take a few minutes out of your schedule, but I can assure you it's time well worth spending. I'm going to use a hypothetical again to explain my point: let's say you retired from Boeing at 65 years old. You'll most likely have Blue Cross/Blue Shield; which if you've worked for them for a long time (usually 20 years or more), you'll get it for free, or close

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