On April 1, 2016 I started writing about my journey to Medicare with the sentence  “A year from today I will be on Medicare.”  With 3 months to go I’m not yet at the finish line. However, on January 1st I entered my “Initial Enrollment Period.” That means that I can finally start doing something about Medicare rather than just talking about it.

Tuesday morning I applied for Medicare benefits online. (I did not apply for monthly retirement cash benefits because as someone born in 1952, my NRA (Normal Retirement Age) to receive full benefits is age 66.) Enrollment in Medicare Part A (Hospital insurance) and Part B (Medical insurance) or Part B only is required before I can apply for a supplemental or cost/advantage plan in my state. Therefore I will need to wait for proof of enrollment and I assume that will be my red, white, and blue Medicare card.

The online enrollment was easy and I immediately received an email confirming my application. About 24 hours later, I received an email from SSA.gov indicating that my application was being processed and I could expect to receive a letter within 30 days.

Thank you for filing your Social Security application online. Our Social Security Office in CHICAGO, IL received your claim and will be working with you to process it. Our goal is to process all applications efficiently.

A representative may call you for more information at the phone number you provided on your application. Please be aware that our representative may call you outside normal business hours, such as on a weekend or during the evening. If we are unable to reach you by phone, we may also contact you by e-mail or U.S. mail.

You should receive a letter in the mail within 30 days with a decision or to request additional information. If you have a future month of entitlement, you should receive a letter in the mail approximately thirty days before your benefits should start. Also, you can check the status of your application at Status of your application or you may call us at (800) 842-0588 with questions. Please wait five days from the time that you filed before checking the status online.

Now my job is to reply to any requests for further information from a SSA representative and then to wait.

Unless something happens in the next month to change my mind, I have decided to enroll in a Platinum Blue Cost plan offered by BlueCross BlueShield for 2017. I will write more about the decision in a future blogpost, but this plan essentially “cushions” my entrance into Medicare. It allows me to use BCBS DME suppliers and not deal with Competitive Bidding. It exempts me from several other Medicare regulations such as seeing my pump-prescribing physician every 3 months and extensive record keeping to justify more than 3 test strips per day. It includes prescription coverage and for the most part functions like the commercial insurance I currently use.

With any Cost plan in Minnesota I would have 6 months to switch to a Supplemental/Medigap plan with no questions about pre-existing health conditions. However, by going with the BCBS Cost plan, I am allowed 12 months to switch to Senior Gold, the supplemental plan offered by BCBS. I am still not sure about the best Medicare plan longterm, but this strategy buys me time to consider that choice again for 2018.

So now I wait.