I turned 65 in October 10 2020. I understand my IEP was July 1 2020 -Jan312021. I waited till mid Dec to submit my application for Medicare assuming it would start Jan.1 2021. Now they are billing me from last Oct.I have submitted another Medicare Application for part B but have not received any response in two months other then another bill for the same amount.Can you help in what I should do next. Many Thanks.

Hi. The initial enrollment period (IEP) for Part B of Medicare lasts for 7 months, starting 3 months prior to the month in which you turn 65 and running through the 3rd month after the month in which you turn 65. The month that your Part B coverage starts depends on which month of your IEP that you apply. If you apply in any of the 3 months prior to the month you turn 65, your Part B coverage starts with the first day of the month in which you reach age 65. If you apply in the month in which you reach age 65, your coverage starts with the first day of the following month. If you apply in the month after the month in which you reach age 65, your coverage starts with the first day of the month 3rd month after the month you turned 65. And, if you apply in the 2nd or 3rd month after the month you turn 65, your Part B coverage starts with the 1st day of the 3rd month after the month of your application. The Part B start date is automatic based on your month of application, and you can't pick and choose a different month to start your coverage (https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/how-do-i-get-parts-a-b/whe...).

Therefore, if you turned age 65 in October 2020 and you applied for Part B of Medicare in December 2020, your Part B coverage should have started effective with March 1 2021. If Social Security started your coverage retroactive to October of 2020, then the only explanation that I can imagine is if you established a protective filing date prior to October. For example, if you made an appointment to apply in September but didn't actually file your application until December, Social Security could still use September as your month of application based on a protective filing date.

You aren't required to use the protective filing date, though, so you could have chosen to use your actual filing date in December as your month of application for Part B of Medicare. But, that would mean that your Part B coverage wouldn't start until March 1 2021. So, it sounds like the options you had were to either start your Part B coverage retroactive to October based on an apparent protective filing date, or to start your coverage with March 2021 based on your actual application date.

I'm doing a lot of guesswork here, though, based only on your description of events. And, you also mentioned filing another application for Part B, so that could further complicate matters. I think you'd better get in touch with Social Security to have them explain exactly what happened in your case, and discuss your options with them.

Best, Jerry