Turning 65 in Colorado: Your Medicare Checklist

Start about six months before the month you turn 65. Your Initial Enrollment Period is seven months long: the three months before your birthday month, the birthday month itself, and the three months after. Sign up in the first three months and Medicare starts on the first day of your birthday month. Inside that window you decide whether you need Part B now, choose between Original Medicare with a Medicare Supplement and a Part D plan or a Medicare Advantage plan, and line up drug coverage. Colorado has no yearly Medigap switching window, so the supplement decision at 65 deserves real care. This checklist puts every step in order.

Six months before your birthday month

• Confirm your dates. If your birthday falls on the first of the month, Medicare treats you as turning 65 in the month before, so every date in this checklist moves a month earlier.
• Find out whether you will be enrolled automatically. If you already collect Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, your Medicare card arrives about three months before your birthday month. If not, you sign up through Social Security.
• If you or your spouse are still working, ask HR two questions: how many employees the company has, and whether the group plan pays first or second once you have Medicare. Those answers decide whether you need Part B right away.
• If you put money in a Health Savings Account, plan when to stop. Contributions must end once Medicare starts, and Part A can be backdated up to six months if you enroll after 65.
• Write down every doctor, specialist and hospital you want to keep, and every prescription with its strength and how often you take it. You will use this list in every comparison.
• Check your Social Security statement at ssa.gov to confirm you have 40 work credits (about 10 years) for premium-free Part A.

Three months before: your window opens

• Sign up for Part A and Part B if you need them, so coverage starts on the first day of your birthday month.
• Compare the two paths: Original Medicare with a Medicare Supplement and a Part D plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan that usually includes drug coverage.
• If you lean toward a supplement, plan to apply now. Your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period starts the month you are 65 and enrolled in Part B. During it, a company cannot turn you down or charge more because of your health.
• Check that your doctors work with the plans you are considering, and run your prescriptions through each plan's 2027 drug list.
• Join one of our Medicare education sessions, in person in Brighton or online, if you would like to see both paths laid out side by side before you decide.

Your birthday month and the three months after

• If you sign up in your birthday month or later, coverage starts the first of the month after you sign up. That can leave a gap after employer or individual coverage ends, so do not wait if you can avoid it.
• Make sure drug coverage starts when Medicare does. Going 63 days or more in a row without Part D or other creditable drug coverage after your Initial Enrollment Period ends can mean a penalty for as long as you have Part D.
• If you have a plan through Connect for Health Colorado, end it so it stops the day Medicare starts. Premium tax credits generally stop once you are eligible for premium-free Part A.
• Keep your red, white and blue Medicare card somewhere safe, even if you join a Medicare Advantage plan and use the plan card for care.
• When your plan cards arrive, check the names, start dates and member numbers, and show them at your next doctor and pharmacy visit so the offices update your records before the first bill.
• Set a reminder for late September each year, when your plan mails its Annual Notice of Change, so you can review before the Annual Enrollment Period opens on October 15.

The deadlines that carry penalties

Missing a Medicare deadline usually costs money every month for years. These are the three to know, using 2026 figures from CMS and Medicare.gov.

Why the Medigap decision at 65 matters in Colorado

Some states give people a yearly birthday window to switch Medicare Supplement policies without health questions. Colorado does not. The NAIC state chart (as of May 11, 2026) lists no birthday rule for Colorado, and the Colorado Division of Insurance Medigap guide warns that in most cases there is no guarantee you can buy a new policy later, because companies may decide based on your health.

That does not mean a supplement is right for everyone. It means the choice is hard to reverse, so make it on purpose. If a Medicare Advantage plan appeals to you, ask about the federal trial right: if you join a Medicare Advantage plan when you are first eligible at 65 and leave within the first 12 months, you can buy a Medigap policy without health questions.

What is available near Brighton for 2027

If you turn 65 between now and the end of 2026, you are shopping for plans that start in 2027. According to the CY2027 CMS Landscape file, Adams County has 36 Medicare Advantage plans from 10 organizations, not counting Special Needs Plans, and Weld County has 25 from 8. Colorado has 8 standalone Part D plans for 2027. The number that matters is not how many plans exist, though. It is how each plan treats your doctors and your prescriptions.

Questions I ask at the first meeting

My approach is simple: I ask questions, listen to your answers, and only then recommend the type of coverage that fits. These are the questions that settle most of the decision, whether you sit down with me, call Colorado SHIP or work through Medicare.gov on your own:

• Which doctors, specialists and hospitals do you want to keep, and do they accept Original Medicare, a particular plan network, or both?
• What prescriptions do you take, at what dose, and which pharmacy do you use in Brighton or nearby?
• Do you travel, or spend part of the year outside Colorado?
• How much could you comfortably pay in a hard health year, and would you rather pay more each month to avoid that?
• Will you have employer, retiree, VA or TRICARE coverage alongside Medicare?
• Is your income likely to put you in an IRMAA bracket, or has it dropped because you retired?
• Do you want dental, vision or hearing coverage, and is it worth more inside a plan or as a separate policy?

Forms and official help

Social Security handles enrollment in Parts A and B, online at ssa.gov, by phone at 1-800-772-1213 or in person. If you are enrolling in Part B outside your first window because you had employer coverage, you need form CMS-40B and form CMS-L564 completed by your employer. If a life change such as retirement lowered your income, form SSA-44 asks Social Security to reconsider an IRMAA surcharge. Colorado SHIP offers unbiased counseling at 1-888-696-7213, and the Medicare & You handbook covers the basics in one place.

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The bottom line

Mark three dates: six months before your birthday month to gather your doctors, prescriptions and employer details, three months before to enroll and choose, and the last day of your Initial Enrollment Period as the final safe day for Part B and Part D. In Colorado, treat the Medigap decision at 65 as the one that is hardest to change. If you would like a second set of eyes on your timeline, call our Brighton office or send a message and we will walk through it together.