Medicare 2026

Before you delay Part B, check your employer's size

Before you delay Part B, check your employer's size — plain-language Medicare information for Norristown, Pennsylvania.

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Turning 65 while you're still clocking in raises a fair question: do you have to sign up for Medicare right now, or can you stay on your job's health plan? For many Norristown workers, the answer depends less on age and more on the size of your employer — and getting it wrong can mean lifelong penalties or a gap in coverage.

Here's how Medicare and workplace insurance are supposed to fit together, and the timing traps to watch for.

First, know which coverage pays first

Medicare uses "coordination of benefits" rules to decide which insurance is primary when you have two.

• Employer has 20 or more employees: Your group health plan is primary. Medicare is secondary. Many people in this group choose to take premium-free Part A at 65 and delay Part B until they retire.
• Employer has fewer than 20 employees: Medicare is primary. If you don't enroll in Part B when first eligible, your employer plan may pay very little — leaving you owing large bills.

If you're not sure which group you're in, ask your HR or benefits office directly. Don't guess.

Your Initial Enrollment Period vs. delaying

Your Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) is a 7-month window around your 65th birthday — the three months before, your birthday month, and the three months after.

If your job's coverage is good and your employer has 20+ workers, you can usually skip Part B for now without a late penalty. When you eventually leave the job or lose the coverage, you'll get a Special Enrollment Period — 8 months to sign up for Part B without paying more later.

Miss that 8-month window and the Part B late penalty can stick with you for life: 10% added to your premium for every full 12 months you could have had it but didn't.

The HSA trap many workers miss

If you contribute to a Health Savings Account through work, this one matters. You cannot keep contributing to an HSA once you're enrolled in any part of Medicare — including premium-free Part A.

And here's the tricky part: when you eventually apply for Social Security, Medicare Part A is backdated up to 6 months. If you kept putting money in your HSA during those months, you may owe tax penalties.

If you want to keep contributing to an HSA past 65, you generally need to delay both Part A and Social Security. Talk to your benefits office or a tax professional before you decide.

What about drug coverage?

If you keep your job's plan, check whether its prescription coverage is "creditable" — meaning it's at least as good as a standard Medicare Part D plan. Your employer is required to send you a notice each year telling you this. Keep it.

If your job's drug coverage is creditable, you can delay Part D with no penalty. If it isn't, and you go more than 63 days without Part D or creditable coverage, a late penalty gets added to your Part D premium — permanently.

For 2026, Medicare drug plans have an out-of-pocket cap of $2,100, a maximum deductible of $615, and enrollees can opt into the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan to spread drug costs across the year.

When you're ready to switch to Medicare

Once you decide to leave your job's plan, you'll want to line up:

• Part B enrollment through Social Security, using forms CMS-40B and CMS-L564 (your employer signs the second one to prove you had coverage).
• A Part D plan or a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage, if you want one. Norristown is in Montgomery County, where residents have a broad range of stand-alone drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans to compare on Medicare's Plan Finder.
• Medigap timing. If you want a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan, your best guaranteed-issue window generally opens the month your Part B starts. Missing it can mean medical underwriting later.

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7 each year for drug and Advantage plan changes. Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment runs January 1 through March 31.

Higher earners: watch for IRMAA

If your income is above $109,000 as a single filer (or $218,000 for a married couple filing jointly) in 2026, you'll pay an income-related surcharge, called IRMAA, on top of your Part B and Part D premiums. Medicare looks at your tax return from two years earlier. If you had a big income year that's now behind you — say, from selling a business or property — you can appeal IRMAA using a life-change form.