Help with medicare part B?

Question

I want to cancel my medicare part B . My questions are When can I cancel part B? and will I be penalized for it? My husband has very good dental and medical insurance on me but because there are less than 100 employees at his work, then Medicare has to pay first. It's always a huge fight with hospitals and doctors offices because Medicare says my husbands insurance needs to pay first and of course my husband's insurance says Medicare must pay first. While they are arguing, we are the ones that are responsible for paying the bills. I went to the Medicare site and it's just as confusing . I am on Social Security for disability. I am 47 years old. I've heard that if you cancel part B you will be penalized and you can only cancel part B at a certain time of year. I could use the extra money they take out for part B to pay my own medical bills and it will be easier to have one insurance (my husbands) so my bills will get paid fast and without arguments and long holds on the medicare line.

Answer 1

First, there is no need to cancel your part b.

Contact the Coordination of Benefits (COB) Contractor's Customer Service Department toll-free at 1-800-999-1118 or TTY/TDD: 1-800-318-8782 for the hearing and speech impaired with any questions you have. Representatives are available to assist you Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time, except holidays.

If you did not (or have not) completed this questionaire, please call and have one sent to you. It is not downloadable on-line. It should solve your COB problems. There is a sample questionaire on the link below if you want to take a look at it.

Answer 2

remember part b is going to pay for the doctors and part a is hospitalization i would  recomend keeping the part b

Answer 3

If you're on Social Security disability, the last thing you should be doing is dropping the Medicare coverage.  You need to speak directly with your husband's HR.  Tell them to get their act together and pay what they're supposed to pay.  They certainly don't want you to drop Medicare Part B - their claims for you will quadruple, from paying 20% to 80%.

But you need Medicare for the rest of your life.

Answer 4

I just spoke to Medicare today about a different issue for myself. You can call them directly and ask the questions. You may have to be on hold for a while but it is worth it rather than to try to understand their website. Ask them directly when you can cancel and is there a penalty?