@somarco
Very interesting! Thank you for the information.
I was aware of the premium surcharge for any hiatus from Medicare Part B (if I remember correctly, it's 10% for each year of hiatus...although this is the "late" penalty, I wonder if it's different for a "break").
But I was unaware of the link between Medicare Part A and forfeiting one's SS retirement benefit. This is good for me personally to be aware of.
It's likely that I will be moving north to my wife's home country and would no longer need Medicare Part B. I figured that if "something" happens in the future and I returned to the US the extra 10% in Part B premium (for each year out of the system) would not break me. And I figured that I might maintain it for up to a year just to see how things go up there. But I would surely be annoyed to entirely lose our SS old age benefits.
Now I'm wondering if it is even possible to "pause" Part B. But it does seem to be possible per this SSA document https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-02713 and the referenced form CMS-1763.
Again, thanks for pointing to this potential issue.
@somarco wrote:
If you cancel Part A you will forfeit your SSA benefit.
If you cancel Part B then later decide to reinstate, you will pay a late enrollment penalty.