Belong

Overview

Reaching Medicare eligibility is a major milestone, and for most people, it raises lots of questions. The following information and resources can help you understand the benefits available to you and when to enroll.

Enrolling | Penalty-Free Period | Coordination with Your Nutanix Plan | Impact to HSA | Support: MyAdvocate and Medicare.gov

Enrolling

You’re eligible to sign up for Medicare during a seven-month Initial Enrollment Period (IEP). Your IEP begins three months before you turn 65 and continues until the last day of the third month after you turn 65. If you don’t enroll during this time, you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty.

Your Medicare benefits are divided into three parts:

  • Part A (hospital insurance): Part A helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health.
  • Part B (medical insurance): Part B helps cover services from doctors and other health care providers, outpatient care, home health care, durable medical equipment (like wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, and other equipment), and many preventive services (like screenings, shots or vaccines, and yearly “wellness” visits).
  • Part D (drug coverage): Part D helps cover the cost of prescription drugs (including many recommended shots or vaccines). You can get Part D coverage by enrolling in a Medicare drug plan (in addition to your Part A/Part B coverage), or by joining a Medicare Advantage Plan that comes with drug coverage. Plans that offer Medicare drug coverage are run by private insurance companies that follow rules set by Medicare.

Visit www.medicare.gov for more information and to enroll.

Penalty-Free Period

If you don’t enroll for Medicare Parts A or B during your IEP, you can usually enroll in Medicare without a penalty for up to eight months after you retire, assuming you’re covered by an employer-sponsored plan, such as a Nutanix medical plan (not including coverage through COBRA). (If you’re not enrolled in an employer-sponsored plan, such as a Nutanix medical plan, you must enroll during your IEP or you'll pay a penalty.)

There are two rules to know about this eight-month special enrollment period:

  1. If you retire within your IEP, you will not be eligible for this eight-month special enrollment period when you retire.
  2. COBRA coverage doesn’t count as employer coverage, so the eight months begin when you leave Nutanix, not when your COBRA coverage ends.

The same applies for your spouse, if you cover them as a dependent on your Nutanix medical plan or they have coverage through their own employer. Your spouse has up to eight months after their employer-sponsored coverage ends to enroll in Medicare Parts A and B without a penalty.

Important note! Medicare is complex and you should consult a Medicare specialist to determine what’s right for you.

Medicare Resources

Coordination with Your Nutanix Plan

If you enroll in Medicare and simultaneously continue your current Nutanix medical coverage, your Nutanix plan will generally be the primary plan that pays your medical bills first, and Medicare will be secondary. You may have to pay an outstanding balance for any costs not covered by your Nutanix plan or Medicare.

Impact to HSA

If you enroll in Medicare Part A or B, you can’t continue to contribute to your Health Savings Account (HSA) and will no longer be eligible to participate in the UHC CDHP – HSA medical plan. This is because the plan and the HSA are combined and you can’t have any other health insurance when enrolled in this plan type. However, any savings you accumulated in your HSA will always be yours, and you can continue to withdraw money from it to pay for qualified medical expenses, tax free.

Support: MyAdvocate & Medicare.gov

Visit www.medicare.gov for more information.

Your personal health assistant with MyAdvocate can also walk you through your Medicare choices to help you make the best decision. For assistance, call MyAdvocate at 833-968-1775 or visit the MyAdvocate website.