Turning 65
There are two enrollment windows, they are not the same length, they do not start on the same day, and missing them has entirely different consequences. Almost everything that goes wrong at 65 comes from confusing the two.
Window one: signing up for Medicare
Your Initial Enrollment Period is seven months long: the three months before the month you turn 65, your birthday month, and the three months after.[Medicare.gov][Social Security Administration]
Enrolling in the three months before your birthday month is generally the way to have coverage ready on time. Waiting until the back half of the window delays when coverage starts.
If you miss it and do not qualify for a special enrollment period, the Part B premium may rise 10% for each full 12-month period you could have had Part B and did not — and that penalty generally lasts for as long as you have Part B.[Medicare.gov] It is not a one-off fee. It is a permanent addition to a monthly bill you will pay for the rest of your life.
Still working at 65? The rules change, and this is the most common place people get bad advice from well-meaning friends. Whether you can delay Part B without penalty depends on the size of the employer and the kind of coverage you have. Check Medicare’s own guidance before you decide.[Medicare.gov]
Window two: buying a Medigap policy
This is the one nobody warns you about, and the one with the longest shadow.
Your Medigap Open Enrollment Period is six months. It begins the first month you are both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B — so it usually starts after your Medicare enrollment, not alongside it. It is a one-time window that does not repeat annually.[Medicare.gov]
During those six months, no insurer can turn you down or charge you more because of your health. Once it closes, unless you hold a guaranteed issue right, an insurer may ask health questions and may decline you.[Medicare.gov]
That is the whole game. A 65-year-old chooses from the entire market. A 72-year-old with a heart condition may have no choice at all. Whatever you buy in that window is, realistically, what you may be keeping — so buy it on how it will behave at 80, not on what it costs at 65.
| Initial Enrollment Period | Medigap Open Enrollment | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Signing up for Medicare Parts A and B | Buying a Medicare Supplement policy |
| How long | 7 months | 6 months |
| When it starts | 3 months before your 65th birthday month | First month you are 65+ and enrolled in Part B |
| Cost of missing it | Possible lifetime 10%-per-year Part B premium penalty | Insurers may use medical underwriting and may decline you |
| Does it come back? | No — special enrollment periods only | No — guaranteed issue rights only |
Sources for each cell are listed at the foot of this page.[Medicare.gov][Medicare.gov][Medicare.gov][Medicare.gov]
What Medicare costs before any Medigap policy
A Medigap policy sits on top of these; it does not replace them. You keep paying the Part B premium whatever supplement you hold.
| What it is | 2026 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part B standard monthly premiumWhat most people pay for Part B. Higher earners pay more, based on income reported to the IRS. | $202.90 | $185 | up $17.90 (9.7%) |
| Part B annual deductibleThe figure that separates Plan G from Plan F: Plan G covers everything Plan F does except this. | $283 | $257 | up $26 (10.1%) |
| Part A hospital deductiblePer benefit period, not per year — you can owe it more than once in a calendar year. Every Medigap plan except Plan A covers at least part of it. | $1,736 | $1,676 | up $60 (3.6%) |
2026 amounts announced by CMS on 2025-11-14, read 2026-08-30: 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles. These change every year and are set by Medicare, not by any insurance company — no Medigap policy alters them. Confirm the current amount at Medicare.gov before relying on it.
The decision that follows you
Benefits are standardised by plan letter — a Plan G is a Plan G whoever sells it. So the choice that actually matters is not which letter, once you have settled that. It is which block you buy into, and how it is priced.
Most policies sold are attained-age-rated, meaning the premium rises with your age every year on top of any filed increase. Medicare’s own guidance warns these “may be the least expensive at first, but they can eventually become the most expensive.”[Medicare.gov] Issue-age and community-rated policies price differently. The three methods, and how to tell them apart.
Two questions to ask about anything you are offered, which almost nobody asks at 65:
- What has this block filed for in the last five years? It is public record.
- What does the premium look like at 75 and 80? For an attained-age policy the insurer has that table, because it was filed.
One thing that has changed
If you turned 65 on or after 1 January 2020, Plan C and Plan F are not available to you. Policies sold to people newly eligible from that date are not permitted to cover the Part B deductible.[Medicare.gov] People who were eligible before that date keep those plans and may still buy them.
For most people newly turning 65, the practical comparison is Plan G against Plan N. What each plan letter covers.
A sensible order of operations
- About four months out. Work out whether you are enrolling at 65 or delaying because of employer coverage. Get this from Medicare or Social Security, not from a friend.[Medicare.gov]
- Three months before your birthday month. Initial Enrollment Period opens. Enrol in Part B unless you have established you should delay.
- Decide the shape of your coverage. Original Medicare with a Medigap policy, or Medicare Advantage. Different structures with different trade-offs — and the choice interacts with window two, because leaving Advantage later may mean facing underwriting.
- When Part B starts. Your six-month Medigap window opens. Compare blocks and filed rate history, not just this month’s premium.
- Before the six months close. Buy. Whatever you hold when the window shuts is what you may be keeping.
Get a second opinion, free
Every state has a State Health Insurance Assistance Program giving free, unbiased one-to-one counselling, funded federally rather than by carriers.[SHIP National Technical Assistance Center] Find yours through the SHIP locator or 1-877-839-2675.
We are a licensed agency and carriers pay us when someone buys through us. That is a real conflict of interest and we would rather you knew it. What it is not is a cost to you: you pay the same premium whichever way you buy: the commission comes out of the carrier's filed rate, it is never added to yours. Going direct to the insurer does not make the policy cheaper, and using us does not make it dearer. So the reason to use the free counselling service is a second opinion, not a cheaper policy. How we handle the conflict.
State enrollment rules
Switching rights after your open enrollment window differ by state, and that difference shapes how much a decision now can be undone later. We have state pages for the 15 states we are licensed in:
Where this comes from
Every rule and deadline on this page is stated from a federal source. Each entry below says what we relied on it for and when we last read it. If something here disagrees with Medicare, Medicare is right — tell us and we will fix it.
- When can I sign up for Medicare?The Initial Enrollment Period runs seven months: the three months before the month you turn 65, that month, and the three months after.
- When to sign up for MedicareSocial Security's own guidance on Medicare enrollment timing and how to enroll.
- Avoid late enrollment penaltiesThe Part B premium may rise 10% for each full 12-month period you could have had Part B and did not enroll, and the penalty generally lasts as long as you have Part B.
- Working past 65How employer coverage interacts with Medicare enrollment timing and the special enrollment period that follows it.
- When can I buy a Medigap policy?The Medigap Open Enrollment Period is six months, begins the first month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B, and does not repeat.
- Get ready to buy a Medigap policyOutside open enrollment and without a guaranteed issue right, an insurer may use medical underwriting and may decline an application.
- Compare Medigap plan benefitsPlans C and F are unavailable to people who turned 65 on or after 1 January 2020; those eligible before that date may still buy or keep them.
- Medigap costs — how insurance companies price policiesMedigap policies are priced one of three ways: community-rated, issue-age-rated, or attained-age-rated. Attained-age premiums rise with the policyholder's age.
- About SHIPs — free Medicare counsellingState Health Insurance Assistance Programs give free, unbiased, one-to-one Medicare counselling and take no commission.