Congress Moves To Fix Medicare Enrollment, But Misses The Biggest Problem

Forbes January 7, 2021
Howard Gleckman

In its massive end-of-year spending bill, Congress slipped in some important changes that may improve Medicare coverage for hundreds of thousands of older adults who don’t enroll when they first are eligible. Unfortunately, lawmakers only did half the job. The changes will help, but Congress chose to ignore the real cause of the problem.

This is complicated, just like everything else about Medicare enrollment. Before I explain what Congress did, and did not, do, here is a brief summary of the current system.

Complicated rules

The basic rule is this: When you turn 65, you are eligible to enroll in Medicare Part A hospital insurance, Part B insurance for doctor visits and other benefits, Part D drug benefits, or...

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