Am I required to do anything with the new health care marketplace exchanges?

Medicare isn’t part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace, so if you are already on Medicare you don’t need to do anything. If you have Medicare, you are considered covered. The Marketplace won’t affect your Medicare choices, and your benefits won’t be changing. No matter how you get Medicare, whether through Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage Plan, you’ll still have the same benefits and security you have now. You won’t have to make any changes. The Marketplace does not offer Medicare supplement (Medigap) insurance or Part D prescription drug plans.

If you have an ACA Marketplace plan, you can keep it until your Medicare coverage starts. Find out how to end your Marketplace plan without penalty.

However, it is a good idea to enroll in Medicare when you first become eligible, because once your Medicare Part A coverage starts, you’ll no longer be eligible for any premium tax credits or other cost savings you may be getting for your Marketplace plan. So, you’d have to pay full price for the Marketplace plan.

It is important to note that if you sign up after your Initial Enrollment Period for Medicare Part B (for most people this begins 3 months before your 65^th birthday and ends 3 months after your 65^th birthday) you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty that you would have to pay for while you are enrolled in Medicare.

If you don’t sign up during you Initial Enrollment Period, you can only enroll in Part B from January to March 31 every year, but coverage only starts in JULY, so you could experience a coverage gap. If you decide to delay signing up for Medicare, be sure you don’t give up your current health benefits until Medicare coverage begins.