Quick Read – COBRA does not count as active-employment coverage, leaving retirees who bridge with it facing a permanent 10% Part B penalty for each year delayed. – A 3-year Part B delay locks in a permanent 30% surcharge that recalculates every January against the rising…
andard premium, currently $202.90. – The 8-month Special Enrollment Period clock starts when active employment ends, not when COBRA expires, which gives retirees far less time than they assume. – A 66-year-old retires in early 2024, drops his employer plan, and signs up for COBRA to keep his old network for 18 months. He enrolls in Medicare Part B in mid-2026, two years after his group coverage ended
The Social Security letter that arrives a few weeks later says his Part B premium will carry a 20% surcharge. Permanently. He calls to argue: he had coverage the whole time.
The answer he gets is the one nobody warned him about. COBRA does not count. If you have active-employment group coverage right now, through your own job or a spouse’s, this article does not apply to you in the same way.