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  • Initial Enrollment Period
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Medicare Initial Enrollment Period

Refers to the three months before the month of your 65th birthday, your birth month, and the three months after.

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Find an affordable Medicare Advantage plan for you.

Your Medicare Initial Enrollment Period

Failing to sign up for Medicare during your Initial Enrollment Period may mean late-enrollment penalties.

  • Some of these penalties can apply for the life of your Medicare coverage
  • Each component of Medicare (Part A, Part B and Part D) has its own penalty calculation

Avoid costly lifelong Medicare penalties. Enroll during your Initial Enrollment Period and consider an all-in-one Medicare Advantage plan that includes your Sutter Health-affiliated doctor.

Learn more about Medicare’s Late Enrollment Penalties.

Retiring?

As you approach retirement, make sure you understand the penalties you may incur if you don’t enroll in Medicare on time. Even if you will have other coverage available to you after you retire, you will still need to make some Medicare enrollment decisions before you stop working and may still be required to enroll in Medicare. You have eight months to enroll in Medicare once you stop working or your employer coverage ends (whichever happens first).

View Medicare Decisions

Choose Medicare Advantage

Consider an all-in-one Medicare Advantage plan. These plans help simplify the complexity around Medicare, and may offer more comprehensive and cost-effective benefits – including Part A hospital insurance, Part B medical insurance, and Part D prescription drug benefits. Some also include dental and vision care.

Here’s how you can benefit from choosing an all-in-one Medicare Advantage Plan during your Initial Enrollment Period:

  • Obtain comprehensive coverage
  • Avoid lifelong Medicare penalties
  • Consolidate your Medicare medical, hospital and prescription drug coverage into one plan that may also additional benefits
  • Potentially save on doctor visits (including low no co-pays), and prescription drug costs
  • Limit your annual out-of-pocket costs
  • Receive a coordinated approach to your care, including referrals to specialists from your primary care doctor, if required
  • Receive preventive services, including annual physicals, and possibly other comprehensive coverage including, X-ray and lab services, routine dental and vision care
  • Travel with peace of mind knowing you have urgent and emergency coverage access nationwide, as with Original Medicare

Having the right health insurance coverage is important to staying healthy. Medicare Advantage patients:

  • Are twice as likely to receive preventive care
  • Are half as likely to go to the emergency room
  • Go home from the hospital one day earlier
  • Are less likely to be readmitted to hospital after discharge*

*When compared to people on fee-for-service Medicare.
Source: The Boston Consulting Group: Alternative Payer Models Show Improved Health-Care Value. May 2013.

This is not a complete description of benefits. Eligibility may be limited to certain times of the year.

Find out if a Medicare Advantage plan with access to the Sutter Health network is right for you.  Compare plans at eHealth.

Helpful Resources

  • Health and Wellness
  • Medicare Advantage
  • Medicare Basics
  • Medicare’s Late Enrollment Penalties
  • Medicare Wellness Visits
  • Accessing Care

This is not an advertisement on behalf of any Medicare Advantage health plan or plans. For information about Medicare, visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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