There's a New SEP in Town! (A "Special Enrollment Period" for COVID-19)

Just when you thought you couldn't take any more news about COVID-19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released a piece of good news for Medicare enrollees who were eligible for Medicare during this pandemic.

CMS is allowing for a one-time "Special Enrollment Period" for those beginning Medicare eligibility as of March 1st.

Generally, when you are first eligible for Medicare, you have 7 months in which to sign up. This begins 3 months before your 65th birthday, includes the month of your birthday, plus the 3 months after your birthday.

If you do not enroll during this time, you are subject to penalties when you do.

There are exceptions to this. They are called SEP's, or Special Enrollment Periods. This helps people who may have lost their health insurance during the year or experience major life changes like moving, marriage, or changes in Medicaid eligibility.

There are many specific SEP's, and if you don't qualify for one in particular you are usually completely out of luck. There are few workarounds.

However, due to the pandemic, many more people now qualify for a SEP, and rightly so. The disruption to everyone's lives and sense of "normal" has hindered what could be their typical process and timeline of enrolling in Medicare. So now we have a SEP to cover just that.

This is good news, very good news in fact to those who for any reason missed their Medicare enrollment during these past few months. Reach out to us to help you enroll if you feel you may qualify. We would love to help you take advantage of this opportunity. If you are already working with an experienced agent you know and trust, ask him or her how this SEP may benefit you.