Delaying Medicare Part B

If you’re working past 65, one of the biggest decisions is whether to take Part B now or delay it. Delaying can be perfectly safe — or it can lock in a permanent penalty. The difference comes down to one thing: whether your coverage is from active current employment. Get it wrong and you pay more for Part B every month for the rest of your life.

When Delaying Part B Is Safe

You can delay Part B without any penalty only if you have creditable coverage from active current employment. That means:

• You or your spouse are still actively working, and
• The coverage comes through an employer with 20 or more employees.

In that situation the employer plan pays primary, Medicare would pay little as a secondary, and you’re free to skip Part B and its premium until the job ends. This is the standard, safe path for people who keep working — see Medicare and employer coverage for how the two fit together, and what counts as creditable coverage so you know your plan qualifies. (Part A is usually still taken at 65 because it’s premium-free — unless you contribute to an HSA, in which case Part A can complicate contributions.)

When Delaying Costs You

If you delay Part B without that active-employment coverage, you face a permanent late-enrollment penalty. Here’s exactly how it works:

• 10% added to your Part B premium for each full 12 months you could have had Part B but didn’t.
• It’s permanent — the penalty lasts as long as you have Part B, not just a year or two.
• Example: delay two full years without qualifying coverage and you pay 20% more for Part B for life.

You can see what a delay would cost you with our Part B penalty calculator — run your own numbers before you decide to skip enrollment.

The COBRA and retiree-coverage trap

COBRA and retiree coverage do NOT count as creditable coverage for delaying Part B. They may feel like real insurance, but for Medicare timing they don’t protect you. Delaying Part B while you rely on either one causes both a permanent penalty and a gap in your coverage, because that coverage doesn’t trigger a Special Enrollment Period. If you’re leaving a job, read COBRA and Medicare before you enroll in COBRA instead of Part B — it’s one of the most expensive mistakes we see.

How to Enroll Later — the 8-Month SEP

When your active employment (or the coverage from it) ends, you get a Special Enrollment Period to sign up for Part B penalty-free:

• The SEP lasts 8 months, starting the month after your active employment or its coverage ends (whichever comes first).
• Enroll within that window and there’s no late penalty and no gap.
• Miss it and you may have to wait for the General Enrollment Period — and the penalty applies.

Details on timing and how to file are in our Special Enrollment Period guide. If you’re approaching 65 and haven’t decided your path yet, turning 65 walks through the full checklist.

Not Sure If Your Coverage Counts? Ask First — Free

Whether it’s safe to delay Part B depends entirely on whether your coverage is from active current employment — and getting it wrong is permanent. Call us free at 435-219-5120 (TTY: 711) and we’ll confirm your situation before you skip enrollment, so you don’t end up with a lifelong penalty or a coverage gap.