The most common mistake is missing the Initial Enrollment Period and enrolling late, which can trigger permanent late penalties and gaps in coverage. Many people don't realize they need to actively sign up for Parts A and B, even if they're already receiving Social Security benefits.
Most people assume Medicare enrollment is automatic. Sometimes Part A is, but Part B almost never is, and the rules depend on your specific situation. If you're not receiving Social Security benefits when you turn 65, you have to actively sign up. Miss the window, and you could face a late enrollment penalty on your Part B premium that follows you for life.The Initial Enrollment Period is a seven-month window: three months before your 65th birthday month, your birthday month itself, and three months after. People often think they have until they actually need care to enroll. That's not how it works.The second most common mistake is assuming that staying on an employer plan protects you from penalties. It often does, but only if that employer coverage qualifies under Medicare's rules. Coverage through a small employer or COBRA does not count as qualifying coverage. Many people are surprised to learn this after the fact.A third mistake is skipping Part D (prescription drug coverage) because you don't take any medications right now. If you go without creditable drug coverage and later want to enroll, you'll face a late penalty added to your premium every month going forward.The good news is that these mistakes are avoidable with a little planning. Talk to someone who knows Medicare before you turn 65, not after.
Utah's ADRC counselors offer free one-on-one help for people approaching Medicare eligibility. They can review your specific situation and help you avoid enrollment mistakes before they happen. Contact your local ADRC through utahaging.org.
For you, this means the time to learn about Medicare is several months before you turn 65, not the week your coverage starts.
Our Commitment to Reliable Medicare Information
At Resting Sycamore Advisors, we work to provide accurate, current, and trustworthy information about Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and Special Needs Plans.
To do that, we use data published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which is the official source for Medicare plan and enrollment information.
Our Medicare plan pages and comparison tools are powered by CMS datasets, including:
When possible, we link to the original CMS resources so you can review the source material directly.
We follow the CMS release schedule and update our website as new data becomes available.
We load new plan year Landscape and PBP files before the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 through December 7). We also monitor CMS.gov for updates or revisions and refresh our content when needed.
We update enrollment and performance data as CMS publishes revised files, which are typically released monthly or quarterly.
We routinely monitor CMS announcements for corrections, reissued files, or other changes and update our pages accordingly.
Each plan page includes a Last Accessed date so visitors can see when the source information was most recently reviewed.
CMS data can be difficult to read in raw form. To make it easier to use, we format and organize the data for clarity.
This includes:
All data values come from CMS. We do not change the underlying values beyond formatting, organization, and presentation.
We keep internal records of the CMS dataset versions used on our site.
If CMS issues corrected or revised files, we update our website to reflect the latest available version.
Please keep the following in mind:
For personalized Medicare assistance, please use these official resources: