If you’ll be celebrating your 65th birthday this year, you will be eligible to enroll in Medicare. If you’re currently enrolled in a Colorado PERACare Pre-Medicare plan, you will need to enroll in a PERACare Medicare plan in order to continue health care coverage with PERACare.

Take the following three steps to enroll in a PERACare Medicare plan:

1. Contact the Social Security Administration no more than 90 days prior to your 65th birthday to enroll in Medicare Part B, and Part A if you are eligible to receive it at no cost.
2. Complete a PERACare Enrollment/Change Form–Medicare Coverage before your Medicare effective date and submit it to PERA. Also complete and include PERA’s Certification of Previous Health Care Coverage form if you are not already enrolled in a PERACare plan.
3. Send PERA a copy of your Medicare card with the Medicare Card Submission Form.

Resources to Learn More

Three months before your 65th birthday, PERA will send you a packet that describes the PERACare options that will work with Medicare once you turn age 65. Listed below are other resources to learn more:

• Visit the Turning 65: PERACare and Medicare – 2021 page under the “PERACare” drop-down menu at www.copera.org. From there you can review the Turning 65: How PERACare Works With Medicare booklet, watch a short informational video, and register for a 45-minute webinar.
• Read Social Security’s Medicare booklet, SSA Publication No. 05-10043 (available on www.ssa.gov) and Medicare’s Medicare & You booklet, CMS Product No. 10050 (available on www.medicare.gov).

Did You Know?

You are eligible to enroll in Medicare when you turn age 65 even if you have always worked for a PERA employer and have never worked under Social Security.