Taking Care of Mom and Dad: Still Working?

If your parents continue to work after the age of 65, they will still be covered by Medicare. However, such coverage will -- in most cases -- be secondary to medical insurance offered by their employer.

Example: If a company has at least 20 employees, employees over 65 must be offered the same health benefits as younger employees. Medicare becomes a secondary payor of benefits for the employees over 65. The company's health plan is primary.

Accordingly, any health claim made by an age 65 or older employee will first be paid by their employer's group health plan. If any part of the claim is not satisfied by the group health plan, that portion of the claim would then be submitted to Medicare.

Some employers try to talk older employees into choosing Medicare as their primary health coverage. If your parents are still working, they may reject their employer's plan and elect Medicare as the primary payor...but their employer may not -- in any way -- encourage them to do so.

Common tactics employers use to encourage older workers to choose Medicare as their primary plan include: offering to pay for Part B coverage on your parents' behalf and offering to purchase a Medicare supplement policy for them.