Can you go on medicare without collecting social security

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How to enroll in Medicare if you are turning 65 without Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits
At what age do I qualify for Social Security?
At what age do I qualify for Medicare?
Can it be a good idea to delay enrollment in either Social Security or Medicare?
Make your decisions independently

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If you are eligible for Medicare but not currently receiving Social Security retirement benefits or Railroad Retirement benefits, there are three different time periods during which you can enroll in Medicare Parts A and B.

Initial Enrollment Period (IEP). You can enroll in Medicare at anytime during this seven-month period, which includes the three months before, the month of, and the three months following your 65th birthday. The date when your Medicare coverage begins depends on when you sign up.
- If you enroll during the first three months of your IEP, coverage begins the month in which you first become eligible for Medicare.
- If you enroll during the fourth month of your IEP, coverage begins the month following the month of enrollment.
- If you enroll during the fifth month of your IEP, coverage begins the second month following the month of enrollment.
- If you enroll during the sixth or seventh month of your IEP, coverage begins the third month following the month of enrollment.

For example, let’s say you turn 65 in June. Use the following chart to determine when you can enroll in Medicare and when your coverage would start.

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You can enroll anytime in:	Your coverage starts:

March	June 1st

April	June 1st

May	June 1st

June	July 1st

July	September 1st

August	November 1st

September	December 1st

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It is important to note that if your birthday falls on the first of the month, your IEP is the seven months surrounding the month prior to the month of your birth. For example, let’s say you turn 65 on June 1. Your IEP runs from February 1 to August 31.

Special Enrollment Period (SEP). SEPs are periods of time outside of normal enrollment periods, triggered by specific circumstances. The Part B SEP lets you delay enrollment in Part B without penalty if you were covered by insurance based on your or your spouse’s current work (job-based insurance) when you first become eligible for Medicare. You can enroll in Medicare without penalty for up to eight months after you lose your group health coverage or you (or your spouse) stop working, whichever comes first. Medicare coverage begins the first month after you enroll. For example, if you retire and sign up for Medicare in February, your coverage will begin March 1. To avoid a gap in coverage, enroll in Medicare the month before your job-based insurance will end.
General Enrollment Period (GEP). If you did not enroll in Medicare when you originally became eligible for it (either during your IEP or an SEP), you can sign up during the GEP. The GEP takes place January 1 through March 31 each year, with coverage starting July 1. You may incur a Part B late enrollment penalty and face gaps in coverage if you sign up during the GEP.

Many seniors sign up for Social Security prior to securing Medicare coverage – but doing so is by no means a requirement.

Q: Do I need to be on Social Security to get Medicare coverage?

A: Millions of seniors rely on Medicare for health benefits in retirement, and depend on Social Security as a key income source. But while the two programs are interrelated, participation in one doesn’t necessarily hinge on being signed up for the other.

You can begin collecting Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. Doing so, however, is often not advisable, since it means lowering your monthly benefits – potentially for life.

To collect the full monthly benefit your earnings record entitles you to, you must wait until full retirement age to sign up for Social Security. Depending on your year of birth, that age will fall out somewhere between 66 and 67. For each month you file for Social Security ahead of full retirement age, you’ll face a reduction in your monthly benefits that will likely remain in effect indefinitely, unless you manage to go through the motions of withdrawing your application soon after filing it.

At what age do I qualify for Medicare?

Medicare eligibility for seniors begins at age 65 (though some people qualify before that time because of a disability or other circumstance). Your initial enrollment period for Medicare begins three months before the month of your 65th birthday, and ends three months after the month you turn 65.

If you miss your initial Medicare enrollment window, you can sign up during the general enrollment period of January 1 through March 31 of each year. But holding off too long could cost you. If you wait too long to sign up for Medicare Part B, you’ll face a 10 percent increase in your Part B premiums for every year-long period you were eligible to enroll but didn’t. There are also financial implications associated with waiting too long to sign up for a Part D drug plan.

That said, if you’re still working and have coverage under a group health plan during the seven-month period surrounding your 65th birthday, you’ll get a special enrollment period that begins when you separate from your employer or your group coverage ends. As such, you won’t have to worry about the aforementioned penalties provided you sign up during your special enrollment period.

It often pays to delay Social Security past full retirement age, because in doing so, you get to accrue credits that boost your benefits by 8 percent a year up until age 70. Therefore, if you don’t need the income from those benefits right away, you could conceivably sign up for Medicare at 65 and then wait another five years before filing for Social Security.

There are also scenarios where it might pay to get on Social Security before enrolling in Medicare. If, for example, you’re still working and have access to a heavily or fully subsidized health plan through your job, you may not have a need for Medicare. On the other hand, you might want your Social Security benefits to supplement your income, pay for travel, or help put your grandkids through college.

Remember, health coverage under Medicare doesn’t necessarily come cheap. Between premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance, you might find that your out-of-pocket costs are substantially lower under a group health plan, in which case it pays to stick with it as long as you can.

Make your decisions independently

Collecting Social Security is by no means a prerequisite to getting Medicare. In fact, it’s often advisable to sign up for Medicare as soon as you’re eligible (assuming you don’t have other health coverage) but wait on Social Security to avoid a reduction in benefits, or boost them as much as possible.

The only downside to signing up for Medicare alone is having to make your premium payments directly, as opposed to having them deducted from your Social Security benefits, but it’s a small price to pay for the upside of a higher lifetime income stream.

Maurie Backman has been writing professionally for well over a decade, and her coverage area runs the gamut from healthcare to personal finance to career advice. Much of her writing these days revolves around retirement and its various components and challenges, including healthcare, Medicare, Social Security, and money management.