JustCare

Tag: Enrollment

  • Turning 65? When to enroll in Medicare

    Turning 65? When to enroll in Medicare

    Turning 65 is fraught for all kinds of reasons, one of which is that you will need to consider whether you should enroll in Medicare. Here’s what I just explained to a friend.

    Should you enroll in Medicare at 65? If you’re not actively working or you do not have health insurance coverage through your job or your spouse’s current job, you will need to enroll in Medicare when you turn 65. And, if you have insurance through your job or through your spouse’s job but the employer has fewer than 20 employees, you also should enroll in Medicare at 65. If you do not, you will pay a penalty for each year you delay enrolling.

    You can enroll before your 65th birthday. You can and should enroll in the three months before your 65th birthday to ensure you are covered on the first day of your birthday month. Contact your Social Security office to enroll. You do not have to sign up for Social Security at that time. In fact, if you can afford to delay taking Social Security, you should, in order to earn larger benefits down the road.

    What choices do you need to make? You need to choose between traditional Medicare, which you should get automatically (but you should confirm) and a Medicare Advantage plan. Traditional Medicare gives you coverage for care from almost all doctors and hospitals across the US, without administrative barriers to care like prior authorization. You pay for supplemental coverage, sometimes called Medigap, to fill coverage gaps–about $2,500 a year for a comprehensive policy–but then you have few out-of-pocket costs; almost all your care is covered in full.

    Medicare Advantage restricts your access to care to its network of providers and has administrative barriers to care such as prior authorization requirements, which can cause undue delays. Medicare Advantage plans also have been found to engage in widespread and persistent inappropriate denials of care and coverage. But, Medicare Advantage plans have an out-of-pocket cap so they save you money if you do not need a lot of care.  If you do, you could spend as much as $9,350 out of pocket in 2025 for in-network care alone. You cannot buy supplemental coverage to cover these costs. If you opt for Medicare Advantage, you will need to choose your Medicare Advantage plan carefully. Do not trust an insurance agent or broker to help you because they generally work on commission. You can compare options online here. You can call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program for free guidance.

    N.B. If you opt for Medicare Advantage when you first enroll in Medicare, you could be locked in. You can always enroll in traditional Medicare, but you might not be able to buy supplemental coverage. It will depend upon where you live. Your federally guaranteed right to Medicare supplemental coverage, sometimes called Medigap, ends one year after you first enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, with some limited exceptions. Only four states–NY, CT, ME and MA–require Medicare supplemental insurers to sell you coverage after your initial enrollment period.

    How about prescription drug coverage? With traditional Medicare, you will need to enroll in a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. You can compare your options online. With Medicare Advantage, prescription drug coverage is almost always included. If you go with a Medicare Advantage plan, to save money, you should choose a Medicare Advantage plan that covers the drugs that you use at the lowest cost. That said, the drugs these plans cover and your out-of-pocket costs can change at any time. Moreover, it can sometimes be cheaper to get your drugs through Costco or another pharmacy. 

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Administration expands Medicare special enrollment periods

    Administration expands Medicare special enrollment periods

    Most people enroll in Medicare in the three months before their 65th birthday month so that their coverage begins on the first day of their birthday month. But, some people miss this initial enrollment period and often pay a penalty for delaying their enrollment. A new Biden administration rule gives more people the right to enroll during a special enrollment period, eliminating penalties for late enrollment.

    As of January 1, 2023, more people who do not enroll in Medicare at 65 will be eligible for a special enrollment period, ending coverage delays and penalties for late enrollment. Without this change, these people would only be eligible to enroll in Medicare during the General Enrollment Period, between January and March of each year. They also would need to wait several months after enrolling for their Medicare coverage to begin. And, they would pay a 10 percent Part B premium penalty for each year they delayed enrollment in Medicare Part B.

    A special enrollment period (SEP) will be available to people who did not enroll in Medicare because of exceptional conditions. As of January 1, 2023, people affected by a disaster or government-declared emergency, people whose employer or health plan materially misrepresented information regarding timely enrollment, people who were in prison, and people whose Medicaid coverage ended after the COVID public health emergency ends will be eligible for a special enrollment period.

    In addition, some people who have had a kidney transplant and would lose Medicare coverage will have a new immunosuppressive drug benefit, giving them immunosuppressive drug coverage.

    If you need help enrolling in Medicare or have questions about your coverage, contact your State Health Insurance Assistance Program through www.shiphelp.org. 

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • If you’re making a Medicare choice, don’t trust the insurance agent

    If you’re making a Medicare choice, don’t trust the insurance agent

    One thing I know from experience: Don’t trust the insurance agentIf an insurance agent who is helping you decide what Medicare choices to make. It is more than possible that the agent is directing you to the Medicare choices that are the most financially lucrative for the agent.  The Commonwealth Fund reports on another issue: Agents generally will not tell you about all your Medicare choices. They might not even tell you about your choice of traditional Medicare. It’s a big problem.

    If you’re deciding between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage, read this. If you’re deciding among Medicare Advantage plans you should know that it’s virtually impossible to know which plan to choose. So it’s not at all clear that the limited choice the agent offers is an issue. The issue is which plan will give you the care you need at the best price, when you need it. And, no one can tell you that.

    As the Princeton health economist Uwe Reinhardt once said: To choose a plan, pick two diseases you might have next year, then find the doctors you would want to see to treat you for those conditions, then find the Medicare Advantage plan that covers those doctors. If you can find one, pick two new diseases and run through the exercise again.

    You need health insurance that protects you from unpredictable, unforeseeable health events. Unlike Medicare Advantage, traditional Medicare offers you that protection. It allows you to know that you can see virtually any doctor and use any hospital and your care will be covered. Your insurance agent is not going to be able to tell you that you will be able to see the doctors you want to see for every condition you might develop in any Medicare Advantage plan.

    If you’re making Medicare choices, you first need to think about your needs. Do you spend time in different areas of the country? Do you want to be able to see specialists or use certain hospitals? Do you have any health conditions? Do you take any prescription drugs and, if so, what will your copays be in different Medicare drug plans? Are you prepared to spend money on a Medicare supplemental insurance policy to fill gaps in traditional Medicare? Can you afford to pay out of pocket as much as $7,550 a year for in-network care alone if you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan?

    The best independent help you can get with these questions is through a State Health Insurance assistance Program or SHIP. SHIPs provide free counseling from impartial people. They do not make money from steering you in one direction or another.

    The Commonwealth Fund recommends that CMS should make it easier for people to use “high-quality” agents and more money should go to SHIPs to provide people with independent guidance. Really? There’s no way to know whether your insurance agent is steering you towards a plan that will meet your needs.

    Much of the available information about Medicare Advantage plans is unhelpful. What people need are good meaningful choices–wide choice of providers without high out-of-pocket costs and other hurdles to getting care. Rather, The Commonwealth Fund suggests some kind of rating of agents that people can access; it also buys into the notion that the Medicare star-ratings are worth paying attention to when even MedPAC–the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission–says they are misleading.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • 2020 Omnibus budget bill improves Medicare

    2020 Omnibus budget bill improves Medicare

    The 2020 Omnibus budget bill that President Trump just signed into law includes key provisions that improve Medicare. The combined $1.4 trillion appropriations bill and $900 billion Covid relief bill will help millions of older and disabled Americans in a host of ways. On the healthcare front, it will make it easier to get Medicare coverage.

    Among other things, the bill speeds up the time it takes to become eligible for Medicare. People who enroll late in Medicare will be able to gain coverage without a lengthy waiting period. For decades now, people who waited to enroll in Medicare were penalized for delaying their enrollment and often had to go without coverage for several months.

    The Medicare provisions in the law were provisions in the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (S. 1280/H.R. 2477).  Senators Bob Casey and Todd Young and Representatives Ruiz, Bilirakis, Schneider, and Walorski sponsored that bi-partisan legislation.

    No longer will people be forced to go without coverage for several months because they delayed enrolling in Medicare. Beginning in 2023, if you sign up for Medicare in the fifth, sixth or seventh month of your initial enrollment period or during the general enrollment period, your Medicare coverage will begin the following month.

    In addition, the Medicare general enrollment period will change to align with the Medicare annual open enrollment period. It will begin October 15 and run through December 31.

    CMS will also now have greater authority to give people a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for “exceptional circumstances.”

    All of these changes improve Medicare. They promote health and economic security for older and disabled Americans.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Enrolling in Medicare? Here’s a checklist

    Enrolling in Medicare? Here’s a checklist

    Most people get Medicare just before they turn 65 (though people with disabilities get Medicare after they receive SSDI for 24 months and people with ALS get Medicare the first month they receive SSDI). As a general rule, you are way better off with Medicare, public health insurance, than with private health insurance. But, figuring out when to enroll in Medicare and what to do can be daunting. And, each fall, you need to revisit your options because they can change significantly from one year to the next. Here’s a checklist:

    • Do you have health care coverage from a current job, either yours or your spouse’s?
      • If you do not, you likely want to sign up for Medicare in the three months before your 65th birthday month, so that your Medicare coverage begins on the first day of your birthday month.  (Your current health insurance in most cases will no longer be your primary coverage after your birthday month.)
      • If you have health care coverage from either your or your spouse’s current job, click here for advice on whether you should sign up for Medicare. Depending upon the job, you may need to enroll in Medicare in order to avoid penalties. Note: COBRA does not count as insurance from your job.
    • Have you already signed up for Social Security?
      • If not, you can sign up for Medicare online through the Social Security Administration. You do not need to sign up for Social Security to enroll in Medicare. Keep in mind that when you sign up for Social Security affects the amount of your monthly check. Click here for advice on when to claim Social Security benefits.
      • If you’ve already signed up for Social Security, you will get Medicare automatically. You should receive a notice in the mail about your automatic enrollment in Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance), both of which you need whether you enroll in traditional Medicare or a commercial Medicare Advantage plan. The Medicare Part A premium is fully paid for if you or your spouse worked for at least 40 quarters and paid taxes; if not, there’s an additional premium. The Medicare Part B premium, which you must pay no matter which Medicare plan you choose, will be deducted from your Social Security check automatically.
        • You will be automatically enrolled in traditional Medicare, government-administered insurance.
        • You can choose to join a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C), instead of traditional Medicare, by signing up with a Medicare Advantage plan; you will be automatically switched out of traditional Medicare.
    • Key differences between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage commercial health plans
      • A Medicare Advantage plan, commercial insurance that contracts with Medicare to offer benefits, is often a lot more expensive and a lot more complicated than it at first may seem. Deductibles, coinsurance and copays can be extremely high, and you cannot buy supplemental coverage to cover these costs as you can with traditional Medicare. At the same time, unlike traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans limit your choice of doctors and hospitals to their network. Your annual out-of-pocket costs for in-network care can be as high as $6,700 and, if you need to go out of network, your costs can be far higher. Here are four key differences between traditional Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan.
      • If you choose traditional Medicare, as 70 percent of people do, Medicare will cover your care from almost all doctors and virtually every hospital in the US. You will want supplemental insurance to fill gaps in traditional Medicare and prescription drug coverage. With that, all or nearly all of your costs for medical and hospital care should then be covered, so you can budget for your care. And, it will be simpler to access care when you need it.
    • What do you need to consider each Fall, during the Medicare open enrollment season?  Each Fall, you will be able to switch Medicare plans. Because Medicare Advantage plans and Part D drug plans can change significantly from one year to the next, you will likely be better off if you do some homework. Here are two questions you should answer during the Open Enrollment Period.
      • If you’re in traditional Medicare, you can assume your coverage will remain the same in terms of access to doctors and hospitals. So, no homework there. But, you will need to check into your Medicare Part D drug plan options, which can change dramatically from one year to the next. (Here’s a Medicare tool to help you choose.)
      • If you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan, you cannot assume your coverage will remain the same each year. The network doctors and hospitals can change at any time, and the premiums, copays and deductibles can change each year. You will need to do some research around costs and to ensure you are in a Medicare Advantage plan that allows you to see the doctors and hospitals you want to use. You can switch to traditional Medicare. But, if you do not have Medicaid or retiree coverage to fill gaps, you will need a Medigap policy.

    For more about Medicare benefits, Medicaid, Social Security and long-term services and supports, click here. 

    To understand when Medicare is the primary payer and when it is secondary, click here. 

    If you have Veterans’ or other military benefits, learn how they work with Medicare.

  • Most people choose traditional Medicare over Medicare Advantage

    Most people choose traditional Medicare over Medicare Advantage

    More than twice as many people enrolling in Medicare choose traditional Medicare over a Medicare Advantage plan. A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that most older adults and people with disabilities want open access to doctors and hospitals and fewer administrative hassles. Only traditional Medicare offers these benefits.

    Kaiser found that 71 percent of people enrolling in Medicare for the first time chose traditional Medicare, as compared with 29 percent who chose Medicare Advantage. People choosing traditional Medicare appear willing to spend more on their coverage upfront and want to avoid getting a referral or a prior authorization before receiving specialty care.

    Given how little we know about different Medicare Advantage plans, it’s not surprising that most people are choosing traditional Medicare over Medicare Advantage. Traditional Medicare puts them and their doctors in charge of their health care. Here are four things to think about when make a choice between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage.

    With Medicare Advantage plans, there’s compelling evidence that for-profit insurers wrongly delay and deny care a significant amount of the time. And, we have reason to believe they limit care, covering fewer physical therapy and home care visits. They have unpredictable out-of-pocket costs that can be as high as $6,700 a year for in-network care alone.

    Moreover, we have virtually no good information identifying the Medicare Advantage plans that deliver good coverage. Medicare’s five-star ratings system does not provide good information, according to MedPAC, an independent federal body advising Congress on health care financing and delivery. Since Medicare Advantage plans restrict your access to health care providers, may override your treating physician’s opinion about the care you need and do not disclose typical out-of-pocket costs for people with complex conditions, enrollment is a gamble.

    The rate of initial enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans has increased by about 1 percentage point a year for the last several years, from 23 percent in 2011 to 29 percent in 2016. It appears that most older adults and people with disabilities are willing and able to spend more upfront for better coverage.

    That said, Medicare enrollment choices differ dramatically in different parts of the country. People with Medicare in Oregon and Minnesota were more likely to enroll in Medicare Advantage when they first signed up for Medicare than people in other parts of the country. Four in ten of them chose Medicare Advantage over traditional Medicare.

    People in Delaware, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as Washington DC, tend to prefer traditional Medicare. Fewer than 11 percent of them enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans when they first enrolled in Medicare.

    People with disabilities were far more likely to enroll in traditional Medicare than people who enrolled in Medicare at 65 or older. In 2016, just 22 percent of people with disabilities enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan as compared with 31 percent of people 65 or older.

    People with Medicaid and Medicare, dual-eligibles, also were far less likely to enroll in Medicare Advantage than people not eligible for Medicaid. In 2016, 18 percent of dual-eligibles signed up for Medicare Advantage as compared to 31 percent of people solely eligible for Medicare.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Could you pay more in Medicare Advantage than traditional Medicare?

    Could you pay more in Medicare Advantage than traditional Medicare?

    Many people with Medicare opt for a Medicare Advantage plan, a commercial insurance plan that contracts with Medicare to deliver Medicare benefits, because they believe it will save them money over traditional Medicare. But, you could pay more in a Medicare Advantage plan than traditional Medicare.

    These days, the Trump Administration makes the commercial Medicare Advantage plans look more enticing than ever. The message is “All the benefits of Medicare and more.” But, what does that really mean and what do you trade away?

    It’s not at all clear that you will spend less for your care in a Medicare Advantage plan. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, average out-of-pocket costs for people with Medicare in 2013 were $5,503 (41% of the average individual’s Social Security annual income.) Kaiser’s analysis does not distinguish between people in traditional Medicare and people in Medicare Advantage plans. The Medicare Advantage plans don’t disclose this data.

    Why don’t the Medicare Advantage plans reveal this data? What are they hiding? Are people spending more out-of-pocket than their advertisements suggest? If people are spending as much or more in Medicare Advantage plans as in traditional Medicare, it is hard to believe many people would opt for a Medicare Advantage plan and restrict their access to doctors.

    If people are paying less out of pocket in a Medicare Advantage plan than in traditional Medicare, it may be because they are not getting the care they need, delaying or skipping care. They may choose to go without care to avoid paying the deductible and copays. Or, their Medicare Advantage plan may not authorize care they need. Since the data is not available, we don’t know whether the cost of getting care in a Medicare Advantage plan or the health plan’s refusals to cover care is affecting people’s health and well-being.

    The data do show that people who need costly services disenroll from Medicare Advantage plans when they can and switch to traditional Medicare at far higher rates than people in good health. Unfortunately, the cost of Medicare supplemental insurance or, in some cases, the lack of access to supplemental coverage, can be a barrier to enrollment in traditional Medicare. Congress needs to fix that as soon as possible.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Why enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan?

    Why enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan?

    Millions of people with Medicare choose a Medicare Advantage plan, a commercial health plan that contracts with the government to deliver Medicare benefits, over traditional Medicare. Why enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan over traditional Medicare? You could save money, but it’s a gamble.

    Medicare Advantage plans generally have lower upfront costs than traditional Medicare. So, if you do not need a lot of health care, you could save money you might otherwise spend on Medicare supplemental insurance you need with traditional Medicare. The typical $2,500 to $3,000 cost for supplemental insurance is often a big stretch, if not prohibitive, for people.

    It is also generally easier to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan than traditional Medicare. You simply sign on the dotted line. With traditional Medicare, unless you have retiree coverage or Medicaid, you need to sign up for Medicare supplemental insurance and also Part D prescription drug coverage. That said, you can get free assistance enrolling from your local State Health Insurance Program. And, once you’re signed up, you have far less paperwork and bureaucracy in traditional Medicare than you have in a Medicare Advantage plan. You generally don’t see a bill or need authorization in order to get care.

    Some Medicare Advantage plans offer benefits not available in traditional Medicare. For example, some offer transportation services if you need to go to the doctor. That can be pretty great. The tradeoff there is that Medicare Advantage plans tend to take a narrow view of Medicare benefits; in addition to restricting your access to doctors and hospitals, they may wrongly deny or delay your care a lot more frequently than traditional Medicare. The Office of the Inspector General reports widespread Medicare Advantage wrongful denials and delays of care.

    Finally, some Medicare Advantage plans actually manage your care and may do a good job of overseeing your care to ensure you get the services you need. For example, some people say that Geisinger, Intermountain and Kaiser offer good care. But, in these health plans, you still have a restricted network of doctors and face huge costs if you need care out-of-network. Though traditional Medicare is not “managed,” a good primary care doctor in traditional Medicare can manage your care as well as a doctor in a managed care plan.

    Bottom line: If you are in good health, odds are that you will save money and get the care you need in a Medicare Advantage plan, so long as you choose it carefully. But, you are also restricting your choice of doctors, hospitals and other care providers and gambling with your health and pocketbook.

    If you can afford traditional Medicare and you opt for a Medicare Advantage plan, you take three serious gambles:

    • You take a gamble that if you develop a complex condition or are seriously injured that you will be able to see the doctors and use hospitals you want to see and use, as well as the rehabilitation facilities and nursing homes.
    • You take a gamble that your out-of-pocket costs for your care are not many thousands of dollars, and you can afford these costs.
    • You take a gamble that you will not need complex care outside of your community–while you are away at a second residence, traveling, or staying with your child or another close family member or friend. If so, your out-of-network costs could be through the roof.

    As of January 1, 2019, you have the right to enroll in, or disenroll from, your Medicare Advantage plan between January and March 31 of each year as well as during the fall Open Enrollment season and switch to traditional Medicare. But, whether you should exercise that right depends upon whether you have supplemental coverage to fill gaps in traditional Medicare. Only four states guarantee people the right to buy Medigap supplemental coverage at any time–Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York. And, some Medigap insurers will sell you coverage after 65.

    Note that many in Congress would like to move everyone into a Medicare Advantage plan so that the federal government can cut payments to these plans and shift more costs onto people with Medicare. So long as traditional Medicare is in the mix, Medicare Advantage plans are likely to offer fairly generous benefits to compete. Their enrollees have the protection of switching to traditional Medicare if they are unsatisfied with their care. Without traditional Medicare, all bets are off.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Medicare Part D in 2018

    Medicare Part D in 2018

    The Kaiser Family Foundation has a new issue brief  on Medicare Part D enrollment, premiums, and cost-sharing in 2018. The biggest takeaway is that if you are among the 43 million people with Medicare who have prescription drug coverage through Medicare Part D,  you should choose your Medicare Part D drug plan carefully. Costs differ considerably among them.

    More than seven in 10 people enrolled in both traditional Medicare (the government-administered plan that covers your care from virtually all doctors and hospitals anywhere in the US) and in Medicare Advantage plans (commercial health plans that contract with the government to offer Medicare benefits) get their prescription drug coverage through Medicare Part D. Almost six in 10 Part D plan enrollees are in traditional Medicare and just over four in 10 are enrolled in Medicare Advantage.

    The average monthly Part D premium is $41, up 2 percent from 2017. Some premiums are as low as $20 and some are as high as $84. Deductibles, the amount you pay out of pocket before coverage kicks in, can be non-existent in some Medicare Part D drug plans. Four in 10 people are in Part D plans without deductibles. More people are enrolled in plans with a standard $405 deductible.

    Coinsurance and copays, the amount you pay out of pocket when you get a covered drug, varies considerably, with generic drugs having far smaller out-of-pocket costs than brand-name drugs, though those costs have risen considerably over the last few years. Drugs that are considered “specialty,” which cost a minimum of $670, often have cost-sharing as high as one-third of the drugs’ price. Forty percent of people with Medicare are enrolled in Part D drug plans that charge coinsurance this high.

    You can check out your Part D drug options on the Medicare Plan Finder, which includes information on premiums, deductibles and the costs of drugs in different Part D drug plans. Unfortunately, the Medicare Plan Finder can be misleading and difficult to use. You can get free help navigating it from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program or SHIP. Or, you might consider other options for keeping your drug costs down.

    Most people with a Medicare Part D plan are enrolled in either UnitedHealth, Humana or CVSHealth.

    Medicare’s Extra Help program helps pay the Medicare Part D premium for about 30 percent of people enrolled in these plans. One million people getting Extra Help pay a $26 monthly premium, on average, for their coverage, though they are eligible for Part D plans for which they do not need to pay a premium.

    If you want Congress to rein in drug prices, please sign this petition.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • How to maximize Social Security benefits

    How to maximize Social Security benefits

    The Pew Charitable Trust released a report explaining how to maximize Social Security benefits. The report focuses on auto-IRAs, but the strategy applies to retirement savings more generally. If possible, it advises spending retirement savings to cover your needs after you retire, as a way to postpone claiming Social Security benefits.

    If you can delay claiming Social Security benefits from age 62 to age 70, you can increase your monthly benefits significantly. But even if you cannot hold off eight years, delaying four years to a full retirement age of 66, means about a 25 percent larger monthly Social Security check. And, even delaying one year can gain you between seven percent and eight percent more in Social Security benefits, depending upon your age.

    Today, most employer retiree plans are defined contribution plans, meaning that a particular amount of money is set aside for your retirement. Unlike defined benefit plans, which guarantee you a particular retiree income each year, defined contribution plans can go up or down with the stock and bond markets and offer no guarantees. So, the question becomes how to use your retiree funds wisely.

    If your employer does not offer you a retiree savings plan, many states are setting up auto-IRAs or “Secure Choice” programs. These programs automatically enroll you in a retiree savings plan that puts a percentage of your salary or wages into your retiree savings plan each month. You can opt out or change the percentage if you like. California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and Oregon are in the midst of putting these auto-IRAs into place. In Oregon, employees automatically put 5% of their gross pay into their auto-IRAs in year one and 1% more each new year, with a 10% auto-contribution cap.

    The auto-IRAs, much like 401(k) plans and other employer retiree plans, would permit you to use the money in those accounts to postpone signing up for Social Security.  You could withdraw the amount you otherwise would have received from Social Security had you enrolled.

    By using auto-IRA or employer retiree plan funds to pay for expenses post-retirement, instead of enrolling in Social Security, you can increase your total retirement benefits. Married couples can benefit even more because when one of them dies, the surviving spouse will receive the higher of the couple’s individual benefits.

    Of course, not everyone will be able to make use of this strategy or benefit from it. For example, people in poor health or people with shorter life expectancies may want or need to claim Social Security benefits sooner. Moreover, if they delay claiming benefits and live a shorter than average life, their total lifetime benefits may be less than they would have received had they enrolled earlier.

    Here’s more from Just Care: