Medicare 2026

Miss These Medicare Dates and the Penalty Follows You

RIO RANCHO, N.M. — For people turning 65 in Sandoval County, the calendar matters more than most new enrollees realize. Medicare's late-enrollment penalties for Part B and Part D are not one-time fines. They attach to your monthly premium and, in most cases, stay there for as long as you have the coverage. The good news: every one of them is avoidable if you know which window applies to you and when it closes.

The one window almost everyone gets first: IEP

Your Initial Enrollment Period, or IEP, is a seven-month stretch built around your 65th birthday. It starts three months before the month you turn 65, includes your birthday month, and ends three months after. For a Rio Rancho resident turning 65 in June, that window opens March 1 and closes September 30.

Signing up during your IEP for Part A, Part B, and — if you don't have other drug coverage — Part D is the cleanest way to avoid every late penalty in the program. Coverage generally starts the month after you enroll.

What happens if you miss the IEP

Miss it, and your next chance for Part B is the General Enrollment Period, which runs January 1 through March 31 each year, with coverage starting the month after you enroll. That's also when the Part B late penalty starts adding up.

Here's how it works: Medicare adds 10% to your standard Part B premium for every full 12-month period you were eligible but not enrolled. That surcharge is permanent for most people — it stays on your premium every month you have Part B.

Part D works on a different clock. If you go 63 days or more without "creditable" drug coverage after your IEP ends, the penalty begins. It's calculated as 1% of the national base beneficiary premium multiplied by the number of months you were uncovered, rounded to the nearest 10 cents. That amount is added to your Part D premium — and it, too, generally lasts for life.

Still working at 65? The dates change in your favor

Many people near Rio Rancho keep working past 65, sometimes with employer coverage through jobs at Intel, Presbyterian, or the school districts. If your employer has 20 or more employees and you have coverage through active employment (yours or a spouse's), you likely qualify for a Special Enrollment Period, or SEP, when that coverage ends.

The SEP for Part B gives you up to eight months after your job-based coverage ends to enroll without a penalty. For Part D, you generally have 63 days after creditable drug coverage ends to pick up a plan.

Two cautions worth writing down:

• COBRA and retiree coverage don't count as active employer coverage for the Part B SEP. If you're relying on either, the clock may already be running.
• Ask your benefits administrator each year for a "notice of creditable coverage" for your drug plan. You'll need it to prove you didn't owe a Part D penalty.

How the deadlines stack up

The dates don't work in isolation. A common Rio Rancho scenario: someone retires in October, loses employer coverage October 31, and assumes they can wait until the fall Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7) to sort everything out. That's a mistake. The AEP is for people already in Medicare who want to change Advantage or Part D plans. It does not enroll you in Part B, and it does not reset a Part D penalty clock that's already ticking.

Similarly, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 – March 31) is only for people already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan who want to switch or drop it. It's not a first-time enrollment window.

How to avoid the penalty entirely

A few practical steps for people in Sandoval County:

• Mark the first day of the month you turn 62 to start reading up. Three years is enough time to plan around a retirement date.
• If you're delaying Medicare because of a job, confirm in writing that your employer coverage is "creditable" for Part D and that the employer has 20+ employees for Part B purposes.
• When employer coverage ends, act inside the eight-month Part B SEP and the 63-day Part D window — not at the end of them.
• If you already owe a penalty and think it was assessed in error, you can request a reconsideration. Medicare will send instructions with your penalty notice.

Where to get answers you can trust

For personalized help, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), visit medicare.gov, or contact New Mexico's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), known locally as the Benefits Counseling program through the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department. SHIP counselors are trained, free, and don't sell anything.