MedicareUnderstanding the Medicare system that serves as the primary health insurer for almost everyone in this country who is 65 or older is vital in planning your health insurance needs. If you are approaching that age, you should start familiarizing yourself with the system before you retire.

You need to know how various parts of Medicare work, how they relate to the supplemental insurance policies (Medigap) and how they interact with your workplace group insurance plan.

In addition, understanding the relationship between Medicare and your group health policy becomes more important and more complicated if your spouse is covered under your plan at work. HIPAA, COBRA and CalCOBRA provisions may determine the availability of his or her coverage.Making a mistake in your coverage can be costly.  Frequently individuals neglect to enroll in the coverage they need only to discover this fact when confronted with large unpaid medical bills. It’s equally common to see people maintaining expensive policies that provide few benefits because they duplicate Medicare coverage.

Unfortunately the rules that govern Medicare can not be reduced to a few memorable rules of thumb. Since a large number of personal variables produce an even larger number of potential scenarios, it’s up to you to work out your options.

Variables to consider include the size of the firm in which you work, whether you will continue to work or not, whether your spouse is covered under your employer’s health plan, and whether you have experienced a disability before the age of 65. The table below summarizes these relationships, but further explanation is necessary.

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