Deciding whether to Defer Medicare at 65

Retirement Retirement
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Medicare - to defer or enroll?

Greetings Fools!

I will be turning 65 in March and have been trying to educate myself on options. I’ve read a couple books (the best was Neil Brown’s “Medicare Entry Guide”) which have been helpful but not the easiest to ask questions of.

After research and compiling numbers from Medicare’s website (it has some very nice tools!), I feel like I can compare the Traditional vs Advantage route, but I’ve found it harder than expected to compare these to my workplace health coverage and I’d love to hear reactions, thoughts or opinions based on these scenarios, primarily as to whether I should defer Medicare A&B for now, defer just Medicare B, or enroll in both A&B and cancel my employer coverage.

My employer coverage is through the hospital I work for and is an HMO-style plan:
Premiums: zero
Annual Deductible: $1700
Max pay: $8500
I have an HSA and am currently contributing $3,000/yr. My workplace adds $500.
I understand that if I enroll in ANY Medicare plan, I may no longer contribute to the HSA - I currently have about $3000 in it.
Medication coverage is good and I have few/cheap routine medications

Looking at TRADITIONAL Medicare with Medigap & Part D supplements I’m interested in would be:
Medigap Premiums: $254 (G), $325 (HDG), $378 (N)
Medigap deductibles: $283 (G), $2875 (HDG), $283 (N)
Part B Premium: $203
Part B deductible: $283
Part D drug deductible: $615

Looking at Medicare Advantage, the plans most I’m interested have:
Advantage Premiums: $0
Medical deductibles: $0
Drug deductible: $350-615

While I’m working (probably till 67), I don’t mind the HMO-style of the plan. I currently have few medication or acute medical needs (knocks on wood, knowing this could change!), but have significant family histories/risk factors. Down the road, I suspect HMOs may become less “ok” for me, but I don’t anticipate this changing prior to retirement - hence my tentative lean towards Traditional w/Medigap and Part D.

How does my workplace coverage compare in your estimation? I’ve gotten too close to this I fear; I’d love the view from a distance. Is there an “obvious” choice? Is my current coverage good enough to defer Medicare entirely for a couple of years or would it make more sense to sign up now?

TIA!

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Medicare Advantage drug deductible applies only to tier 3 and above mostly brand name drugs. Generics are tier 1 mostly. Zero co-pay and deductible does not apply. That’s for AARP United Healthcare HMO. Saves me abt $2k per year vs Medicare Supplement and Part D. Medicare supplement is more versatile but all hospitals and my doctors are in network. So far no problems.

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ah, ok - I presume the Part D drug deductible is similar (as I see a deductible, yet Medicare’s drug price estimator says $0 for drug costs - all generics).

I’m struggling to decide whether to enroll in A only right now, keeping the workplace insurance for the next two years (and having to stop the HSA contributions) or letting it go and enrolling in either Traditional (with supplements) or an MA.

Or postpone BOTH A&B and keep what I’ve got for now.

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It’s wonderful that you have choices. Most of us don’t. I hesitate to advise further. I hope others will respond.

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