Comedy aficionados know John Oliver, a Brit who has shown he can make almost anything funny. Even Medicare. In one routine he speaks to how confusing Medicare can be for people 65 and older, although he then jokes that many things – an Apple TV remote or an Amazon Fire stick, for example – are confusing to this population. Yet his point about Medicare is well taken. Medicare is significantly more complex than employer insurance or Medicaid, the primary types of health-care insurance most insured Oregonians have prior to Medicare enrollment.  To bolster the point that Medicare merits serious attention – suggestions later in this column – here are several Medicare rules that might surprise you.  Part B premium: If you’re paying more than the $185 monthly premium this year, you might be overpaying. That could be true, for example, if your income has fallen because of retirement from your job or because of death or divorce from an income-earning spouse. Social Security form SSA-44 is worth investigating. Late-enrollment penalties: If Medicare beneficiaries fail to enroll in Medicare Part B or in prescription drug insurance when Medicare requires it, they face lifetime financial penalties if later they do enroll. Although the Part B penalty is by far the greater of the two, even the late-enrollment drug penalties pile up alarmingly fast.  You dislike your insurance plan: If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan that you find disappointing, Medicare rules permit you to change to another plan between Jan. 1 and March 31 or, if you’re new to Medicare, during the first three months you have the plan.  Two bites at the guaranteed issue apple: An under-65 Medicare beneficiary receiving Social Security disability benefits has guaranteed issue for Medicare supplement (Medigap) insurance when first enrolling in Medicare, although may not be able to afford it then. But they have a second guaranteed issue opportunity upon turning age 65, which could be attractive if financial circumstances have changed.  Savings at the pharmacy: Choosing the best prescription drug insurance for your circumstances is perhaps the best way to save on prescriptions at the pharmacy, although only one of them. An earlier Medicare column highlighted a dozen possible strategies. Special-enrollment periods: Until this year, Medicare beneficiaries with income-related benefits such as Medicare Extra Help with pharmacy drug costs could change Medicare Advantage or prescription drug insurance in any calendar quarter. That changed this year: If they have a Medicare Advantage plan, in any month they can switch to Original Medicare (Parts A and B) with a Prescription Drug Plan; or If they have Original Medicare, in any month they can switch Prescription Drug Plans. Dozens of choices: Taking into account the three types of Medicare coverage, plus the many choices within two of them, you may be faced with dozens of options. Details about the three principal types of insurance – Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage and Medigap – were shared in a prior column.  Deadlines, deadlines: Medicare has deadlines for the initial enrollment period, annual open enrollment and special enrollment periods. They are covered in detail on pages 16-22 of the Oregon Guide to Medicare Insurance Plans.  If these examples have convinced you that it’s worth doing some Medicare study, these are examples of how you might proceed: Spend some time with the Oregon Guide to Medicare Insurance Plans, which, besides being online, may be picked up (they’re free) at the Salem or Dallas office of Northwest Senior and Disability Services. Learn to use the Medicare.gov website, where you can find cost and benefit information about Medicare Advantage, prescription drug, and Medicare supplement (Medigap) insurance. Even if you find the site tricky at first, spending 30 minutes touring the site may have you mastering it. Schedule an in-person, phone or Zoom appointment with a SHIBA volunteer counselor, who will have answers to your questions (and who has access to Medicare experts in the SHIBA state office in the Oregon Department of Human Services). Seek out an insurance broker who handles Medicare plans and policies for selected companies. Although you could work with any insurance broker who handles Medicare insurance,  you can find a state-certified broker on the healthcare.oregon.gov website (at the top of the page, click on Find local help).  Jim Sellers of Salem is a certified Medicare counselor with the Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance (SHIBA) program. To ask a question to be answered in this column, e-mail [email protected]. To schedule a free SHIBA phone, Zoom or in-person appointment with a volunteer Medicare counselor, please call 800-722-4134. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected]. LOCAL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU: Subscribe to Salem Reporter and get all the fact-based Salem news that matters to you. Fair, accurate, trusted – SUBSCRIBE The post COLUMN: 8 Medicare rules that might surprise you appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less