Medicare 2026

Medicare Initial Enrollment Period basics for Manhattan, KS

# Aging into Medicare: the enrollment window you don't want to…

MANHATTAN, Kan. — If a 65th birthday is on your calendar in the months ahead, so is one of the most important deadlines of your adult life. Medicare's Initial Enrollment Period — the seven-month window built around the month you turn 65 — is when most people sign up for Parts A and B and decide how they want the rest of their coverage to work. Miss it, and you can face gaps in coverage and late enrollment penalties that follow you for years.

The good news: the rules are straightforward once you slow down and take them one step at a time. Here's what people in Manhattan need to know.

What the Initial Enrollment Period actually is

Your Initial Enrollment Period, or IEP, is a seven-month window tied to your 65th birthday. It includes the three months before your birthday month, your birthday month, and the three months after. For someone turning 65 in June, for example, the IEP runs from March 1 through September 30.

During those seven months you can enroll in Original Medicare (Part A and Part B), and you can also pick up a Part D drug plan or choose a Medicare Advantage plan instead of Original Medicare. This is the one-time window Medicare gives almost everyone — it doesn't come back around.

When your coverage actually starts

Timing inside the window matters. If you sign up during the three months before your birthday month, your Medicare coverage generally starts the first day of your birthday month. If you wait until your birthday month or later, coverage start dates shift back — sometimes by a month or more.

That's why most experts suggest acting early in the window rather than waiting. Enrolling early doesn't cost anything extra, and it keeps you from starting Medicare with a coverage gap.

Do you need to sign up, or will it happen automatically?

If you're already receiving Social Security benefits before 65, you'll usually be enrolled in Parts A and B automatically, and your red-white-and-blue card will arrive in the mail a couple of months before your birthday.

If you're not yet drawing Social Security — which is common for people still working at 65 — you'll need to sign up yourself through the Social Security Administration at ssa.gov or by calling Social Security. Don't assume it will happen on its own.

Still working at 65? Read this twice

Manhattan has plenty of people working past 65, whether at K-State, in city or county jobs, or in small businesses around town. If you have health coverage through a current employer (yours or your spouse's) with 20 or more employees, you may be able to delay Part B without a late penalty and use a Special Enrollment Period to sign up later.

But the rules get tricky. Retiree coverage, COBRA, and marketplace plans do NOT count as active employer coverage for this purpose. Before you decide to delay, talk to your HR office and to Medicare or SHICK. Getting this wrong can mean lifetime Part B penalties.

First decisions after Parts A and B

Once Parts A and B are in place, you have a choice to make about the rest:

• Stay with Original Medicare and consider adding a standalone Part D drug plan and, in many cases, a Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy to help with what Original Medicare doesn't cover.
• Choose a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C), which bundles Part A, Part B, and usually Part D through a private insurer.

Manhattan is in Riley County, where multiple insurance carriers offer both Medicare Advantage and standalone Part D plans. There's no single right answer — the best fit depends on your doctors, your prescriptions, your budget, and how much you travel.

Key Part D numbers to know

A few program-wide Part D figures that affect nearly everyone:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 for the year. Once you hit it, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the calendar year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly installments instead of paying them all at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA — higher Part B and Part D premiums for higher earners — kicks in above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Dates to keep on your calendar after you enroll

Even after your IEP ends, Medicare has annual windows worth knowing:

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7 — when anyone with Medicare can change Part D or Medicare Advantage plans for the following year.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1 – March 31 — if you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another or return to Original Medicare.