My First "Quaterly" Medicare Bill is for Four Months Instead of Three... Why?

[AlanM350314]

 I just retired and I have just signed up for Medicare Part B. Since I was working when I became eligible for Part A, I signed up for Part B well after Part A. I signed up to coincide with my retirement, October 1st - that is, at the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year.

Since I have not yet started collecting my Social Security benefits, I am being billed QUARTLY for my Part B. Since I am starting at the beginning of a quarter, and since a quarter is four months, I expected the bill to be for the three months of OCT, NOV, and DEC. The first QURTLY bill has just arrived... surprise! it's for FOUR months, OCT, NOV, DEC and JANNUARY of next year!

Looking on line, I've found instances of folks questioning why their supposedly quarterly bill is for four or five months, instead of the expected three. The "go to" answer seems to be to get the billing cycle lined up with the calendar year: JAN, APR, JUL, OCT. But my cycle was already so aligned, so four months misaligns it!

Does anyone have an answer or any speculation for why a quarterly bill would be for four months and would misalign with the calendar quarters?

[AlanM350314 · Accepted solution]

After calling Medicare and Social Security several more times and talking to various representatives, I have progressed in my understanding of this question. It turns out that Medicare has three "quarterly" billing cycles. "Quarterly" is something of a misnomer, because "quarterly" usually suggests the four calendar quarters, the three month segments that start on JAN, APR, AUG and OCT.

In the Medicare cinematic universe "quarterly" means "three month intervals" unanchored from the calendar start and end. As such, there are three possible "quarterly" cycles, which the representative called the A, the B, and the C cycles. A starts in JAN, B starts in FEB, and C starts in APR.

It turns out I was put into the B cycle. Since I am in the B cycle, and my start date of OCT is in the A  cycle, an extra month was added to my "first quarterly bill" to cause my next bill to synch up with the FEB / B cycle. From A -> B is one month, from A-> C would be two months, which is why some people have reported getting an initial bill for FIVE months.

Why would they have three "quarterly" cycles? The reason for that is easy to guess... to spread the paperwork and transactions evenly over the year, rather than have four intense periods per year on the calendar quarters. This makes sense.

To make this work, there has to be some way to rather evenly distribute enrollees into the three cycles - why was I put in cycle B? I asked, and the answer was.... wait for it... I don't know. I'm sure that comes as a surprise. One guess is that it is done by month of birth. My birthday is in FEB, and FEB is in (actually, the start) of the B cycle. So maybe that's it. Or, maybe not. Only the bureaucracy knows for sure. Or maybe even the bureaucracy does not know.

[GailL1]

Part B premiums are always paid for the month that is applicable - they are not paid 1-month in arrears like a SS benefit.  

Billings for Part B premiums, for those without a SS benefit to which they are deducted, are billed in (3) month periods or longer for payment(s) of a past month or if the beneficiary desires to pay further in advance.

Look at your Medicare Red-White & Blue card and there is a date when Part A and Part B started - there will be an effective date of each.  What is your Part B effective date?  October 1, 2024 or Sept 1, 2024 ?  

It has been a very long time ago since I had to actually pay the Part B premiums but I am gonna guess that the effective date of your Part B is NOT Oct. 1, 2024 but is in fact Set. 1, 2024.   

Thus you are paying for (1) past month of Sept, (1) current month of Oct and (2) advance months of Nov and Dec.  or (4) months altogether.  

You will then be put on a (3) month billing with the next one coming for Jan, Feb, March 2025.  Most likely it will arrive in December or January and is due when you get the bill.

Medicare.gov Medicare Premium Bill (CMS-500) 

[AlanM350314]

No, My Medicare Part B started October 1, as requested, and that is the date on the card.