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Medicare Basics Review.  (Whether or not receiving benefits subsidized by HP or HPE.)

Medicare works differently! You have lots of work to do.

Practical advice from HPAA members.

HPAA members advise that you get started three months before your Medicare start date (which is the start of your birth month, or the previous month if born on the 1st.)

1. Set up your online "My Social Security" account -- or gain access to the forgotten account you set up in the past. You will be asked questions based on your Equifax credit file. If this process fails -- for example if you don't currently have both a mortgage and a car loan -- Social Security will send a temporary password to either the postal address or email address they have on file for you. If you have a credit freeze or fraud alert at Equifax, you will have to temporarily lift it. Create a Social Security Account: https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/create.html

2. Download the very clear, official "Medicare & You" book: Don't wait for the printed copy in the mail, which may show up two months after you need it. Even if you have a paper copy, easier to use "Medicare & You" if you download the file and use Adobe Reader's search feature to find specific words or phrases (Ctrl-F, F3, or Command-F.) https://www.medicare.gov/publications/10050-medicare-and-you.pdf  (2026 edition now available -- Sep 10, 2025.)

3. Sign up for Medicare A and/or B using your online Social Security account.

4. Then you will be able to add your specific Medicare insurance plan(s) -- Medigap and/or Part D, or Advantage -- via your insurance provider.

Getting started with Medicare.

Here's the official Medicare step-by-step procedure: "Getting started with Medicare" https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare

The AARP also has a step-by-step procedure -- ""Medicare Made Easy" https://www.aarp.org/medicare/what-is-medicare/  [AARP membership not required.]

..."Medicare Question and Answer Tool."  https://www.aarp.org/medicare/faq/

...and "7 Medicare Changes You're Seeing in 2025" https://www.aarp.org/medicare/changes-coming-in-2025/

Get Medicare information from the official source.

Much information about the details of Medicare provided by websites or in the media is oversimplified or out of date -- or influenced by the fact that insurance companies very much want to sell the more profitable Advantage plans instead of Medigap plans.

Many health insurance websites carry authoritative-sounding information -- and appear to be operated by government, non-profit, educational, or other impartial sources -- but are actually operated by marketing companies collecting leads for high-pressure insurance sales outfits. (Including the official-looking "medicare -dot- com" and -dot- org sites.)  The questionable websites have phone numbers with wording like "Speak with a licensed insurance agent" and "Helping millions of Americans since 1994."

The official Medicare site is http://www.medicare.gov
It is thorough and very well done.

1. First, check the very clear, official "Medicare & You" book.

Best source of reliable Medicare info is the very clear official book -- "Medicare & You" -- in the mail or online.

Even if you have a paper copy, easier to use "Medicare & You" if you download the file and use Adobe Reader's search feature to find specific words or phrases (Ctrl-F, F3, or Command-F.)
Download the book from the official Medicare.gov site: https://www.medicare.gov/publications/10050-medicare-and-you.pdf  (2026 edition now available -- Sep 10, 2025.)

The pdf file is very well done -- terms, phrases, and issues are hotlinked to sections in the book or to other articles on the medicare.gov site.

There are several key tables in the book:

- Pages 9 through 12 explain Parts A, B, and D and Original Medicare vs Medicare Advantage (part C) plans.

- Pages 13 through 20 explain what you need to do -- and when.

- Pages 21-22 explains how your other insurance works with Medicare.

- Page 76 has table of the Medigap plans -- A through N.

2. Very helpful articles from the official Medicare site on topics we have discussed on the HPAA Benefits Forum

- Retiree insurance. "If you're retired and have Medicare and group health plan (retiree) coverage from a former employer... "4 things to know about retiree coverage"
https://www.medicare.gov/supplements-other-insurance/retiree-insurance

- How Medicare coordinates with other coverage. COBRA. Coverage based on current employment or current employment of spouse. Workers' compensation. Veteran. TRICARE. And more.
https://www.medicare.gov/supplements-other-insurance/how-medicare-works-with-other-insurance

- What is the cryptic "Notice of Creditable Coverage" letter? 
https://www.medicare.gov/basics/forms-publications-mailings/mailings/costs-and-coverage/notice-of-creditable-coverage

3. If you don't find the answer to your question in the book, use your browser's "search within the site" feature to look up specific topics on the medicare.gov site.

Copy-and-paste this example into your browser, then modify the search terms to suit.
[ guaranteed issue site:https://www.medicare.gov ]
If you search with that example, the official article on Guaranteed Issue Rights comes right up.

4. State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) websites and trained volunteers have information about local, personalized counseling and assistance to people with Medicare and their families. Highly recommended by HPAA members. (And several HPAA members help out.) https://www.shiphelp.org/

5. Health insurance agents. You may not qualify for a company health insurance plan -- or, even if you do, have low years-of-service such that they should consider non-company alternatives. An experienced independent insurance agent licensed to sell health insurance in your state can help you sort through the complexity -- and adds nothing to the cost of any plan you purchase from them.

If you have found an especially helpful article on the Medicare.gov site, please pass the word to info@hpalumni.org

Next step: Decision: Advantage vs. Original

Advice and reference info from members. (Sep 11, 2025)  Not officially endorsed or supported. Click to join the HPAA   Question? Email us: info@hpalumni.org

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