Q. I retired from the Postal Service at age 70. I did not sign up for Medicare Part B at 65. I carried my Federal Employees Health Benefits plan into retirement. I understood that as long as I kept my insurance, I would not be penalized if I decided to sign up at a later time. That was two years ago. I am considering an Advantage plan and have been told by Social Security that I will be penalized for each 12-month period since I turned 65, even though I continued to work until 70. I retired Oct. 1, 2011.
A. The minute you retired, the clock stated ticking on the penalty-free enrollment period for Medicare Part B. Since you didn’t enroll during that period, the premiums will have increased by 10 percent for every 12-month period you could have been enrolled but weren’t.
