Turning 65 in Indiana: your Medicare starter guide

Turning 65 comes with a stack of Medicare mail and a few decisions that matter for the rest of your life. Here is the plain-English version — what to do, when, and which deadlines you really don’t want to miss — with the Indiana twists that most guides leave out. When you are ready, we walk through your specific options at no cost.

1. Your enrollment window: the 7-month Initial Enrollment Period

Your Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) is seven months long: the three months before the month you turn 65, your birthday month, and the three months after. Signing up in the three months before your birthday means coverage starts the first of your birthday month. You enroll through Social Security (online at ssa.gov, by phone, or at an office); if you already draw Social Security you are enrolled in A and B automatically.

• Part A (hospital) is premium-free for most people, so most enroll when first eligible.
• Part B (medical) carries the $202.90 standard monthly premium in 2026 — and a timing decision if you are still working (see below).

2. The parts of Medicare, briefly

• Part A — inpatient hospital, skilled nursing, hospice.
• Part B — doctors, outpatient care, preventive services.
• Part C (Medicare Advantage) — a private all-in-one alternative that bundles A, B and usually drug coverage, sold by county.
• Part D — prescription drug coverage.
• Medigap — a supplement that pairs with A and B and works anywhere in the country.

3. Your big decision: two paths

Where you live and where you get care tilt the answer. In Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville and South Bend the Advantage menu is deep, but the networks are drawn around systems — IU Health, Ascension St. Vincent, Community, Franciscan, Parkview, Lutheran, Deaconess, Beacon — and a plan that includes one may exclude another. In rural counties the menu is shorter. If you winter in Florida, or your specialist is in Louisville, Cincinnati or Chicago, a supplement removes the network question entirely. Military retirees with TRICARE For Life are a third case; see Veterans.

If you lean toward a supplement, there is a second deadline that is easy to miss: your Medigap open enrollment is its own six-month window, separate from the seven-month one above. Indiana’s new birthday rule lets you shop the policy every year afterward, but only once you have one. Our research site sets the windows side by side — turning 65 in Indiana.

4. Deadlines that carry lifelong penalties

5. Still working at 65, or retiring with a plan in hand?

If you (or your spouse) have qualifying employer coverage, you may be able to delay Part B without penalty and get a Special Enrollment Period when that coverage ends. The rules depend on employer size (20 or more employees is the usual line) and whether the drug coverage is creditable. Indiana’s big employers — the state, the universities, the school corporations, the health systems, Lilly, Cummins, the automakers and the mills — generally qualify; a small business or COBRA may not. It is worth a quick conversation before you decide, and a form (CMS-L564) from your employer when you do enroll.

Retiree plans are the Indiana question. A large share of Hoosiers reach 65 with a retiree plan from a union trust, a former employer, the state or a school corporation. Those plans usually turn into one of two things at 65: a group Medicare Advantage plan or a group supplement, often with drug coverage built in and a premium the trust or employer helps pay. Two things to know before you touch it: retiree drug coverage is normally creditable, so you can hold off on your own Part D without a penalty while you have it; and dropping a retiree plan to buy something on the individual market is frequently a one-way door — many trusts do not let you back in. Bring the retiree plan’s annual notice to your review and we will set it beside the individual options honestly, including the case for leaving it alone.

6. A simple checklist

• Mark your 7-month IEP on the calendar (it starts 3 months before your birthday month).
• Decide on Part B based on whether you have other creditable coverage.
• Find your retiree plan’s notice, if you have one, and read what it becomes at 65.
• Find out how deep the Advantage menu is in your county, and which hospital systems each plan includes for 2026.
• Choose your path: Original Medicare + Medigap + Part D, or Medicare Advantage.
• Check that your doctors and prescriptions are covered before you enroll — especially if a specific system is your care.
• If you winter away or cross a state line for care, read the snowbirds and border-care guide first; if you are a veteran, see how TRICARE or VA benefits coordinate; if you have Medicaid, see PathWays for Aging.
• Estimate your costs on our 2026 costs & IRMAA page.

None of this has to be done alone. We help Hoosiers sort through it every day — clearly, patiently, and at no cost to you. Indiana SHIP (800-452-4800) offers free, unbiased state counseling as well.