Can I delay Medicare if I am still working at 65?
Usually yes, if you have health coverage through your own or your spouse's current employer and that employer has 20 or more employees. In that case you can delay Part B without penalty, and a Special Enrollment Period protects you when the job or the coverage ends.
The employer size test is the hinge. At companies with 20 or more employees, the employer plan pays first and Medicare can wait. At smaller companies, Medicare is designed to pay first, which means skipping enrollment can leave you dangerously underinsured even though you feel covered. Many people also choose to take Part A at 65 regardless, since for most people it carries no monthly cost, though anyone contributing to an HSA needs to pause and plan first, because Part A enrollment ends HSA eligibility.
Does COBRA count as employer coverage?
No, and this is the mistake that hurts the most people. COBRA is not considered current employer coverage for Medicare's purposes. If you leave work and take COBRA past 65 without enrolling in Medicare, you can face gaps in coverage and late enrollment penalties that never expire.
The trap is understandable: COBRA looks and feels like your old employer plan, so people assume the same Medicare rules apply. They do not. Your eight month Special Enrollment Period starts when your employment ends, not when your COBRA ends. Retiree coverage follows similar logic. If you are anywhere near this situation, get your dates confirmed before you sign anything. This exact conversation, ten minutes long, is one we have with Los Angeles clients every month, and it is at no cost to you.
Still working and unsure whether to delay Part B? Call before you decide, so a penalty never follows you.
You reach Lara directly · English, Español, עברית · Licensed in 12 states · No cost to work with Lara
When exactly should I enroll after I stop working?
Your Special Enrollment Period runs for eight months after your employment or employer coverage ends, whichever comes first. Enrolling before your job coverage actually ends is the cleanest path, because it lets your Medicare start the moment the employer plan stops, with no gap in between.
Treat your retirement date as a project with a lead time. Sixty to ninety days out is the sweet spot to begin: confirm your Part A and B start dates, choose your coverage road, and line up drug coverage so nothing lapses. Waiting until after the retirement party works legally, but it risks weeks without coverage and rushed decisions. The people who feel calm through this transition are simply the ones who started early. That can be you.
Forms CMS-40B and CMS-L564: what to fill out and where to send them in Los Angeles
If you already have Part A and you leave a job or its health plan after 65, you sign up for Part B with form CMS-40B and prove your employer coverage with form CMS-L564, where you fill out Section A and your employer fills out Section B. The same applies when your coverage comes from your spouse's current job. Send them while you still have that coverage or within 8 months after the job or the coverage ends, whichever happens first: mail or fax both forms to your local Social Security office, or apply for Part B online at SSA.gov and send the CMS-L564 to the office by fax or mail.
Form CMS-40B also asks whether you have had coverage through an employer or union group health plan since you turned 65. If you sign up while you still have the job coverage, or during the first full month after it ends, the form lets you choose when Part B starts: the first day of the month you enroll, or the first day of any of the 3 months after. To have Part B start when the job coverage ends, Medicare.gov says to sign up the month before you or your spouse plan to retire. COBRA does not count as job coverage for this, and taking it does not change when the 8 months end.
What is form CMS-L564?
Form CMS-L564, the Medicare Request for Employment Information, shows Social Security that you had group health plan coverage based on current employment, yours or your spouse's, so you can sign up for Part B in a Special Enrollment Period, which usually means no late enrollment penalty. You fill out Section A with your name, Social Security number and your employer's name and address, and your employer fills out Section B with the dates of your coverage and your job, then signs it. Your coverage must not have ended more than 8 months ago.
Where do I send CMS-L564 in Los Angeles?
Mail or fax it, together with form CMS-40B, to your local Social Security office; Social Security's office locator at SSA.gov/locator finds an office near you. If you apply for Part B online at SSA.gov instead of mailing form CMS-40B, you still send the CMS-L564 to your local office by fax or mail. For help with the form, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).
What penalties am I actually avoiding?
Late enrollment penalties in Medicare are not one time fees. They are permanent surcharges added to your monthly costs for as long as you have that coverage, and they grow with each year you delay without qualifying coverage. Avoiding them entirely is the whole reason timing matters.
Both Part B and drug coverage carry their own late enrollment penalties, each with its own clock and its own rules about what counts as qualifying coverage. The details matter less than the principle: these penalties are permanent, they are avoidable, and avoiding them requires nothing but enrolling at the right time for your situation. Every situation has a right time. Finding yours is a short conversation, and it is the single highest value ten minutes in all of Medicare planning.