Retiring Soon With Marketplace Coverage: Medicare Timing
If you are turning 65 soon, enroll in Medicare during your Initial Enrollment Period — the 7-month window centered on your 65th birthday. Marketplace coverage is not qualifying active employer group health coverage and does not create a Part B Special Enrollment Period when you retire or when the Marketplace plan ends. If your IEP has passed and no other SEP applies, the General Enrollment Period (January 1 through March 31) is generally the next enrollment window, with Part B coverage starting the first day of the month after you enroll.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does losing my Marketplace plan when I retire create a Medicare SEP?
- No. Marketplace coverage is not qualifying active employer group health coverage. Losing it does not create a Medicare Part B Special Enrollment Period. Your enrollment window depends on where you are relative to your Initial Enrollment Period.
- What if I am already past 65 and have only had Marketplace coverage?
- If your IEP has passed and no other SEP applies, the General Enrollment Period (January 1 through March 31) is generally your next enrollment window, with Part B coverage starting the first day of the following month. Contact Social Security to assess whether any exceptional circumstances apply.
- Do I need to do anything about Part D when I retire from Marketplace coverage?
- Yes. Verify whether your Marketplace drug coverage was creditable. If it was not, enroll in a Part D plan promptly. You have 63 days from when Marketplace coverage ends to enroll in Part D without a late enrollment penalty — only if the coverage was creditable.