Page 1 - Cover Letter and Evaluation for Craig Callan

February 4, 2019

Mr. Craig Callan
6124 Swansea Street
Bethesda, MD 20817

Dear Craig:

Your Medicare evaluation is enclosed. Please check the information on the client data sheet on
page 5 to make sure it is correct. The costs shown in your evaluation are estimates for the 2019
plan year, although you will be enrolled in Medicare for less than the full year.

As I mentioned in an earlier e-mail, when you decide the date that you want your Part B
coverage to begin, you can call Social Security at (800) 772-1213 (or you can enroll online at
ssa.gov or by scheduling an appointment at your local Social Security office). Within 2-3 weeks
after you enroll, you will receive your Medicare card in the mail indicating the date that your
coverage will start.

Medicare and COBRA

You are probably already familiar with the coverage rules for Medicare and COBRA, but I’ll
review them briefly. Because you already have Medicare Part A, you can keep your COBRA
policy if you choose to. But COBRA coverage is not based on current employment and therefore
it does not change your Part B and Part D enrollment deadlines.

In your case you should enroll in Part B no later than 8 months after you retire. And you have
only two months (technically 63 days) to enroll in a Part D plan – either an Advantage plan that
includes Part D coverage or a Part D stand-alone plan.

However, if your COBRA policy’s Rx drug coverage is creditable coverage, you may use it instead
of enrolling in a Part D plan. You would do that only if it saves you money. Later when your
COBRA coverage ends and you enroll in a Part D plan (either Advantage or stand-alone), you’ll
likely be asked for documentation that you have had creditable drug coverage.

When your Part B coverage starts, Medicare will become your primary (first-to-pay) insurance
and you can use the COBRA policy to provide additional benefits not covered by Medicare, e.g.,
routine vision and dental benefits. Because the COBRA policy is not designed to be
supplemental coverage, it may not provide much added value for medical coverage. And if your
wife plans to use the COBRA policy, you should understand how your decisions may affect her
COBRA coverage.