Question

uan Perez, who is turning age 65 next month, intends to work for several more years at Smallcap, Incorporated. Smallcap has a workforce of 15 employees and offers employer-sponsored healthcare coverage. Juan is a naturalized citizen and has contributed to the Medicare system for over 20 years. Juan asks you if he will be entitled to Medicare and if he enrolls how that will impact his employer-sponsored healthcare coverage. How would you respond?

Answer 1

The common requirements to qualify for Medicare are:

1. US citizen or permanent resident for at least 5 years.
2. Currently receiving social security benefits or qualified to receive them in the future
3. Your spouse is employed by the government and he/she has paid Medicare payroll taxes.

Apparently "J"uan Perez complies with them since he is a US citizen and has been contributing to Medicare for more than 20 years. Therefore, he should be eligible for it and Medicare would become his primary healthcare insurer. After Juan is enrolled in Medicare, his employer will no longer be required to provide sponsored health coverage.