Public Employees Retirement System

Moving to Medicare

If you are currently enrolled in a PHIP non-Medicare plan and need to change to a PHIP Medicare plan, you will need to do the following within 30 days of becoming eligible for Medicare:

  1. Fill out a Disenrollment Form for your current non-Medicare plan. 
  2. Fill out a new Enrollment Request Form for the PHIP Medicare plan, if enrolled in both Medicare Part A and Part B.

Once you become eligible for Medicare your non-Medicare plan will be terminated and you may not have another opportunity to enroll.

Medicare Eligibility

Eligibility for Medicare begins the first day of the month of your 65th birthday. If you are receiving Social Security due to disability, you will be eligible for Medicare on the first of the 25th month of receiving Social Security Disability benefits. You are required to retain both Medicare Part A and Part B to be enrolled in a PHIP Medicare plan. For more information on Medicare enrollment and eligibility refer to the Medicare Enrollment page.

Receiving the Retiree Health Insurance Premium Account (RHIPA) premium subsidy?

Once you become Medicare eligible, you are no longer eligible to receive the RHIPA premium subsidy. If you receive the RHIPA premium subsidy beyond your Medicare eligibility, you will have to repay any premium subsidy funds back to PERS for the time period in which you were ineligible to receive the RHIPA premium subsidy.

However, if you were eligible for the RHIPA premium subsidy, you will automatically qualify for the Retiree Health Insurance Account (RHIA) premium subsidy upon enrollment in to a PHIP Medicare plan.

Did you know?

Avoid a gap in coverage

If you submit your PHIP Medicare election after your PHIP non-Medicare coverage ends you will have a gap in coverage. Remember your PHIP effective date will be based on the receipt date of your PHIP Enrollment Request Form.