Medicare Corner
What new Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs) can I use to enroll in Medicare as of 2023? Changes in the law have allowed the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish new SEPs for Part B and premium Part A that can be used starting in 2023. SEPs are periods of time outside normal enrollment periods when you can enroll in Medicare or change your coverage. Beginning in 2023, you can use an SEP to enroll in Medicare if: on March 1, 2023, and the emergency ends on June 25, 2023, the SEP begins on March 1, 2023, and ends on December 31, 2023. • Coverage begins the first day of the following month that you enroll. 3.You are released from incarceration:
1.You lose Medicaid : You can use this SEP if you lose Medicaid eligibility on or after January 1, 2023. • The SEP begins when you receive notice of upcoming termination of Medicaid eligibility. • The SEP ends 6 months after the termination of eligibility. • You can choose to have your coverage begin on the first day of the following month, or you can choose that coverage is retroactive back to when your Medicaid ended (but no earlier than January 1, 2023). To use this SEP, contact Social Security and show that your Medicaid eligibility ended on or after January 1, 2023. 2.You are in an area affected by a disaster or emergency: You can use this SEP if you missed your IEP, GEP, or SEP, and you live in area where the federal, state, or local government declared an emergency. • The SEP begins the date that the emergency or disaster is declared (as long as it is after January 1, 2023) and ends at the end of the month 6 months after the end date in the emergency declaration. If the emergency declaration is extended, the SEP ends at the end of the month 6 months after the end-date of the extension. For example, if an emergency is declared
enrollment period. You must receive this misinformation on or after January 1, 2023, to qualify. Note that you do not qualify to use this SEP if you did not receive any information about Medicare enrollment. • The SEP begins the day you notify Social Security of the misinformation (as long as it was on or after 1/1/23). • The SEP ends 6 months after you notify Social Security. • Coverage begins on the first day of the following month. 5.You experience other exceptional circumstances: Social Security will decide if you can use this SEP on a case-by-case basis. You can request to enroll through this SEP if you missed other enrollment periods because of situations you could not control, and Social Security finds your situation to be exceptional. Exceptional means very unusual or not typical. Forgetting to enroll or not knowing that you were supposed to enroll do not count as exceptional circumstances. • Social Security decides the timing of this SEP on a case-by-case basis. To use these SEPs, contact Social Security with evidence of qualifying circumstance. You may also call PCOA Medicare at (520) 546-2011 or email us at medicare@pcoa. org for further information.
You can use this SEP if you are released from incarceration on or after January 1, 2023. • The SEP begins the day you are released from the custody of a penal authority. • The SEP ends the last day of the 12th month after you are released. • You can choose to have your coverage begin on the first day of the following month after you sign up, or you can choose to have your coverage begin up to 6 months retroactively. If you choose the latter, it cannot begin before January 1, 2023, or before you were released. 4.You make an enrollment mistake based on misinformation from your employer or health plan: You can use this SEP if your employer, employer group health plan, or someone acting on behalf of your employer gave you incorrect information that caused you to miss a Medicare
March 2023, Never Too Late | Page 7
Pima Council on Aging
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