When A Spouse Passes: Medicare And Social Security Survivor Steps

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Nobody wants to think about what happens after a spouse passes.

But not knowing what to do next can make an already painful situation even harder.

Medicare. Social Security. Survivor benefits. Coverage changes.

There are steps that matter, and most people don’t learn them until they’re forced to.

Today on the Medicare Daily Show, we’re walking through what you need to know before your family is in the middle of it.

As always, we’ll be taking live call-ins. We look forward to hearing from you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Death is unfortunately a reality of life, and there are steps that you need to take as it relates to Medicare and Social Security. So this episode uh hopefully isn't relevant for you anytime soon. But if you have friends uh that pass away and you're talking to their spouse and they're wondering what to do, save this. This might be a resource for you at some point. Welcome to Medicare School Daily. My name is Josh Music. I'm here with Justin Cohen. Uh my dad is in India, and so we're asking uh folks who work at our company to fill in for him while he's gone. Uh Justin's been with us for several years now, and when you call in and work with one of our agents, this is a great example of the people that the caliber of the people that you get to work with. So, welcome to Medicare School Daily. If you're just starting Medicare or starting Social Security, retiring, and you're confused about what to do, you're not sure how this whole Medicare system works, welcome, you are in the right place. Purpose of the show is to make sure that you don't make a mistake, that you get everything out of your benefits that you can, and you're able to learn about Medicare and Social Security without someone trying to sell you something. If you want to be a part of the show today or in the future, the phone number is 833-824-2004. You can call in with your questions, your concerns, your comments, your stories about how you have navigated and navigated Medicare either well or maybe made a mistake that would be helpful for other people to listen to. You can have all your questions answered from 11 a.m. to noon Central Time Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. noon to Central Time Monday to Thursday. Call in 833-824-2004. If you want personal, one-on-one help where you're working with someone like Justin, going through advantage plans, supplemental plans, Medicare enrollments, IRMA surcharges, late enrollment penalties, A and B enrollment, drug plans, vision plans, dental plans, whatever it is that relates to Medicare, Social Security, and your health care coverage, you can call in and talk to somebody. The phone number to get in touch with our office free of charge is 800-782-6676, 800-782-6676. Justin, let's talk about our topic for today. What steps does someone need to take uh whenever a spouse passes?

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yes, well, the death of a family member, the death of a spouse is emotionally devastating. Uh some of my clients have had to deal with this. Especially the death of a wage earner in the household can be financially devastating. As we work and pay taxes, we pay into the Social Security system and earn credits that we can use for our own retirement or that can be used to help our family continue to survive after we pass. And so hopefully this video again isn't relevant anytime soon, but there are steps that people need to take if uh a spouse passes away. Generally speaking, uh the first thing that happens is the death is reported to Social Security. This is often handled by the funeral director. If you're communicating with them, you'll make sure that they have your deceased spouse's Social Security number and they'll report that death to the Social Security Administration. You in turn can call them yourself and report that death, and you're gonna want to do that pretty soon. That's gonna trigger the cancellation of the Medicare A and B for that spouse so that those benefits are not those costs are not being taken out of their benefits. Uh then you're gonna want to call the various insurance carriers. Uh if they have a Medicare supplement plan, you that won't be canceled automatically. And it's usually not coming out of a Social Security benefit. In fact, it never is. It's always a bank draft. So we want to stop that right away.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Uh you'll call the number of that'll continue for the otherwise it'll just continue. So if you have a plan G or a plan N or your spouse does and they pass, it's on you. Or if you're a client of ours, you can call us and we'll help coordinate that.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

We encourage you to call us. There's more than just a few things to do. Yeah. Yes. So uh cancel the uh Medicare A and B is going to be done by the Social Security Administration, but the cancellation of a supplement plan is gonna be your responsibility so that that money doesn't get drained from the bank account. And uh not a bad idea to call if uh they have uh an advantage plan or a drug plan to call and cancel those two. Although the elimination of Medicare A and B will trigger the automatic cancellation of an advantage plan, uh not a bad idea to call. Yeah. And just make sure that the drug plan as well.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Yeah, if A and B ends, you're not eligible for it, so it will terminate.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

That's correct. Um and so the Medicare aspect of it is pretty simple because your Medicare is not tied to your spouse Medicare. But your Social Security benefits and your spouse work history often intertwined. So generally speaking, you're gonna want to have an appointment with the Social Security Administration pretty soon after. Call them and make an appointment because you want to explore what options you have when it comes to collecting survivor benefits. Certain family members are eligible for survivor benefits, certainly the surviving spouse. If the surviving spouse is uh 60 years old or older, then they can begin receiving those survivor benefits at any time, or 50 years old or older if they are disabled as a surviving spouse. Then again, a surviving spouse who's caring for the children, the natural children of the deceased spouse, are eligible to receive benefits at any time, if they're caring for a child who is 16 years old or younger 16 or less, okay. Or a child who became disabled prior to age twenty-two.

unknown 5:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

There's no age limitation, no minimum. So in that, if you're caring for so how how does their benefit look the remaining They're going to get 100 percent of the spouse the deceased spouse benefit if they are caring for the young child, 16 or younger, or disabled prior to 22. There's no age limit. But if you're not caring for such a young or disabled child and you're the spouse of the disp deceased, then you need to be at least sixty years old in order to claim any survivor benefits.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Aaron Powell Okay. So 60 is the base age, right? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

60 is the base age.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Unless you have a disabled child that you're caring for. Right. It could be kind of whatever age.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Aaron Powell Any age. Yeah. Or if you yourself are disabled, then the minimum age is fifty.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Oh, well. Now you're you're not going to get the whole benefit at age 60 or 50 if disabled. You're going to get somewhere between 71% and 99%, depending on your age. Until you reach full retirement age. If you were the surviving spouse and you've reached full retirement age, which anybody who's 70 now is past that, anybody who's 66 in 10 months now is past that. If you were born in 1962, it won't be full retirement age until you're 67. But uh at full retirement age, you can get 100% of your spouse benefit. Now, if you're already drawing Social Security benefits based on your spouse work history and just the spouse is now deceased, then the data appointment that you have with the Social Security Administration, they will switch your benefits to be survivor benefits. Okay. But if you're drawing Social Security based on your own work history, you want to have that appointment with Social Security to determine if you should make any change to survivor benefits. If you're eligible for more, then they'll give you the difference.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Yeah, and I think that was the situation of a caller we had last week who she was drawing off her own work record. Uh spouse had died like 12 years earlier, and she didn't know that she needed to raise her hand and say, Hey, I'd like to switch to a survivor benefit because his benefits are more. So she had lost 12 years of I think a few hundred dollars a month, which I doubt is recoupable, maybe a little bit of it. I think sometimes we'll pay up to six or nine months in the in arrears, but n they're not gonna probably pay twelve years back.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

No, they don't. Typically the the benefits are paid from the date of application, not the date of death.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

That's right. So um again, having an appointment with the Social Security Administration means that you don't have to know all of this because they'll help you. Um but generally speaking, if you're 60 years old or older, uh then you want to have an appointment with Social Security upon the death of your spouse to understand your options.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

So I feel like really it's it's somewhat simple. Uh make sure on the Medicare side that you've notified either you or the funeral director, right? Uh notify Social Security that uh that your spouse passed. And if you have a Medicare supplement plan, uh you need to call and cancel it, right? You could work through us to help you do that if you're a client of ours. But get that supplement canceled because it's an EFT out of a out of a checking account, and they don't know. And they're just gonna keep taking that money for as long as they can take it, and then you'll have to kind of jump through some hoops, probably fight to try to get it back. They'll probably give it back if you can prove that part B um terminated, right? And there were no bills. But go ahead and cancel that. The second thing uh would be on drug plans and advantage plans. Uh it's a little less important that you call uh because they are only they're gonna be notified through the Social Security Administration. That's how that's all tied together. Um but if you're paying a premium for your drug plan that's coming out of your bank draft, like a lot of people are. A lot of people either take Social Security or a bank draft or a direct bill. Those are the three options. If it's a bank draft, you probably ought to call and cancel that. Just be proactive. That way don't hit you. You know, if it's a $5 drug plan or a $10 drug plan, probably not a big deal. If it's an $80 drug plan, you might as well keep all that money yourself. So Medicare report everything and then Social Security, definitely, uh definitely I think just general rule, schedule an appointment. Talk to them about what benefits are available to you uh so that you can hopefully switch up. Don't just assume it's gonna automatically switch and don't just assume nothing can change. Make the time, take the time to schedule an appointment and see if you can get more benefits uh based upon your situation.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

That's right. Even if you're thinking that you're not needing the Social Security benefits at this time, right? Normally the longer you wait, the greater they grow. But the survivor benefits actually do not grow any longer, any further once you reach this full retirement age for survivors. That's right. Uh which is again 66 and a certain number of months.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Right? That's and it's not going to grow.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

No, the survivor.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah, what if the what if the person I just I want to clarify this. So what if the surviving spouse waited? Because my understanding, I've heard my dad say this many times, is the if if if pardon me, not the surviving spouse, if like he has said several times on the show, I am waiting right until 70 to draw benefits so that when I pass, she will get the higher amount.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Okay. So how does that jive with what you just said? Because I think there's a difference there.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Aaron Ross Powell Right. So as the surviving spouse, there's generally not a lot of reason to postpone the beginning of your survivor benefits for very long, certainly not past full retirement age. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Because the fact that you get 100% of whatever was left at full retirement.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Because at full retirement age, or at 70 at the latest, you can change to your own benefits. So you can draw survivor benefits and let your own retirement benefits continue to grow at 8% per year beyond full retirement age until you're 70. Okay. Whereas the survivor benefits are maxed out at full retirement age. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

So there could be a world in which you take a survivor benefit for a few years, right? And it's 100%, and then yours grows and exceeds it, and so you need to follow back up at 70 and see, hey, which one is higher now?

SPEAKER_01 11:42

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Obviously, these are little intricacies. Um I think so. Maybe the the the point is at death, have an appointment, you know, and then have another one at 70 to see which one's higher. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

That's right. You should do that. And the surviving spouse is not the only person who's eligible to receive survivor benefits. Uh children, eligible children, again, 16 years old or younger, or disabled prior to age twenty-two, these children can receive benefits. Uh even an ex-spouse of the deceased can draw benefits based on the What are the stipulations around that? The ex-spouse had to be married to the newly deceased for at least ten years. Okay. And then cannot have remarried prior to age sixty.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Okay. Interesting. Little details.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

So if you have an ex-spouse that's passed away, maybe go schedule an appointment as well and see what you can get.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

If you learn that your ex-spouse has passed away and you are 60 or you you didn't remarry, or at least didn't remarry prior to 60, then you can and should probably draw those benefits because that doesn't even take anything away from the family, the remaining family. You know, most of these survivor benefits are limited to what they call a family maximum, which is generally 150 percent to 180 percent of the newly deceased Social Security benefit that they'd earned. Uh but an ex-spouse does not affect that maximum. And so remember that this is not an application that can be done online. You need to call and talk to them over the phone or have an in-person appointment. You need to have things with you, like marriage certificate or a divorce certificate. You need to have their date of birth, their W-2s if you have access to them. Death certificate. Death certificate, of course. Uh all of these things are needed to prove the relationship. Aaron Powell Anything else you feel relevant to share? Aaron Powell There's a one-time, you know, death benefit. Oh, okay. It's uh What is it? So if a spouse dies, their surviving uh spouse can apply for a death benefit. It's a one-time payment of $255. Aaron Powell What is that for? Well, it's a death benefit.

unknown 13:54

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

I mean but what's that why did they land on 255 and when's the last time that changed?

SPEAKER_01 13:59

1954.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

So it was frozen in 1954 by the Congress of that time. I still think that's the same.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Maybe that covered like a I mean, it could have covered burial expenses back then. I'm assuming that's what it was for. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

That's what it was for, is to help cover burial expenses. And it was designed to be three times the maximum monthly payment, which is something like $5,000 right now a month, right? $5,000 something. Wow. And so right now, if it had not been frozen, it would be about a $15,000 or $16,000 death benefit, which may have a chance at helping with those expenses. But in 1954, Congress froze that benefit, and so the amount has become more and more eroded and laughable due to inflation. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

In 1954, the average cost of an adult funeral and burial in the United States was approximately $700. This covered the full memorial service, professional funeral director services, and the casket. So I guess it would cover about a third of that. Now it covers uh average funeral, I think, is like 10-ish thousand. So it covers I don't know, what is that, point two percent? Very little. Very irrelevant. Yeah. But you should at least get your two hundred and fifty-five dollars.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

At least get your two hundred and fifty dollars. If you don't cancel your supplement plan, you know. But you have to apply for that within two years of the spouse death. Oh, two years. Two years. All these little things. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Let's talk to Terry in Texas. Terry, welcome to Medicare School Daily. What questions do you have for us, sir?

SPEAKER_02 15:32

Hi, thank you for taking my call and thank you for all the great information you guys give. Um I my um husband and I are 67, and we currently have credible coverage through his job, but he will be retiring early 2027. So we're gonna do our plan is to do original Medicare and do a plan G and a plan D supplement. And we currently live in Texas, but in about a year after he retires, we will be moving to the state of Washington. So um I'm well, okay, so will we have to undergo will we have to have medical underwriting when we move to another state?

SPEAKER_01 16:17

No, no, you won't. Uh you'll get that Medicare and the supplement plan G, great choice, by the way, and a prescription drug plan in Texas, right? Uh and then when you move to Washington, uh, we'll help you shift your drug plan, that from a Texas plan to a Washington drug plan, but that'll be the only thing that moves. Uh your Medicare and your supplement plan will follow you when you move. And they won't change in any way other than potentially the monthly premium you pay for your supplement plan could be adjusted a little bit, but you will not be in danger of losing the supplement or have to replace it with another one. Uh there'll be no medical underwriting, Terry. Good question. How do uh Okay. No medical No, I'll just say how to make it.

SPEAKER_02 16:57

And no medical underwriting for the D.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

That's correct. No medical underwriting for a D drug plan ever. Uh so there won't be any danger of that. You can always change your drug plan uh during the annual enrollment period, or in this case would be called a special enrollment period due to the move.

SPEAKER_02 17:14

Oh, okay. That sounds great. I can't wait to work with you guys. And I appreciate all the videos, all the great information, and I feel a lot better now because I definitely would not pass underwriting um anyways.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Ah well, of course you're welcome for all the help. Uh most of that comes from the man himself, Marvin Music, on the YouTube videos. No doubt you learn quite a bit from that. But yeah, we'll be happy to work with you and help you, uh including during the move. You don't have to know all this stuff ahead of time. We'll help you when the time is right.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Okay, great. And then I'm gonna mention one thing that just to kind of uh so you know, keep this in the back of your mind. I believe Medicare supplements are a little bit more expensive in the state of Washington than in Texas. Texas is such a great state for Medicare supplement premiums. So those plan G's, when you move, I would expect there to be a little bit of price movement in an upward direction on those plan G's. Not not you know, not a big deal, but just wanted to mention that. Texas, there's a few states that are really, really low comparatively to some other states like Washington or California that can be a little more expensive.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

So Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

What was your other question?

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Uh yeah, we recently uh okay, um so I'm also concerned, I know there's penalties if you don't get like Medicare penalties, lifelong penalties if you don't get the plans right away or you don't sign up right away. And so I'm concerned about being without coverage and those penalties going from the employer um plan to Medicare. How old are both of you? We're both 67. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

And you mentioned that you'd been covered by, as you put it, credible health insurance uh from the employer, right? One of you is w uh working at least and you have health insurance through that person's employment, right?

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Correct. My husband, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Yes. Uh so don't worry about penalties. You're not going to be penalized as long as you have employer group health insurance, which you do, and you have it because either you or your spouse is still actively working for that company. In other words, it's not a retirement plan. One of you is still actively working there, which one of you is. And then number three, that employer has to have at least 20 employees to make it considered to be a large employer by Medicare standards. So if all three of those criteria are met, then you can go on Medicare Part B whenever you want to. Any month of any year, as long as we get it within eight months of you two no longer meeting all those three criteria, which we will, of course. Uh nobody waits eight months with no health insurance before applying for Medicare after retirement, but they give you that much time. So it's pretty easy to avoid the penalty, and you haven't done anything wrong, Terry. We'll make sure there's no penalty.

unknown 20:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:06

Okay, so you guys will help me with the seamless like transition.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Do it every day, absolutely. Absolutely. There will be uh there will be a form for each of you, both you and your spouse, that your somebody in the benefits or HR department will need to sign off and say, hey, yeah, they have had coverage, continuous coverage back to when you know whenever it started, as long as that whenever it started date is prior to 65, is it for both of you? Like you you worked there for a few years. Okay, so then at you know they're gonna have to sign off on that, and then we are you know, we'll get that to the Social Security Office. We'll help you facilitate this whole process, and there will be no penalties, no gaps in coverage. We'll want to do everything about 90 days in advance. So for you, when when do you expect for this all to need to start?

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Um my husband will be retiring at the end of February 2027.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

So would it be fair to say that your benefits will probably need to be in place on March 1st, your Medicare?

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Okay. So then we can really probably any time after December 1st is is the perfect time to do that.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

Anytime after December 7th would be great.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Yeah, yeah. He said December 7th because the annual enrollment period ends for on December 7th. And that's for all the people that are currently on Medicare Advantage plans and currently on Medicare drug plans that are trying to switch those plans. And it is a fury of activity. So there's going to be longer hold times, delays in application processing, all of those things. But if you wait until December 8th, it's the sky opens up, it's free, free and clear. So you you might maybe put on your calendar, let's let's do it December 8th thereafter. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Okay, that sounds great. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Gotta do it by December 7th. That doesn't apply to you. That's right. Okay. That applies to people who are already on coverage switching.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Okay, that sounds great. I um I ignore all that stuff. And uh I know several doctors, including my doctor who says Medicare Advantage is a disadvantaged plan. I know there's some people that don't have a choice, but if you have a choice, we have a choice.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

If you are economically able to afford it, we're gonna recommend a supplement plan, unless you have a huge HSA. We're gonna recommend a supplement plan ten times out of ten.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

So Right. I mean, luckily, thank God we can't. Yeah. And my husband's employer even offers an advantage plan and they really push it and everything, and then they offer some other kind of plan, which is they'll pay 70 of the 20 that the B plan doesn't pay, and they use the example of your bill is a hundred dollars. So I feel really bad for people that can't do the math and don't understand that there's never a medical bill that's a hundred dollars.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Yeah, yeah. Maybe maybe they should add a couple zeros and let people know the risks. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

But anyway, what's the employer?

SPEAKER_02 23:17

Oh, I probably shouldn't say it's a state. Okay. Oh, it's a state.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Now you already know because you know, yeah, no. That you know, back in the day, I'm gonna say probably 10 years ago, a lot of those those state plans or even employer provided advantage plans were pretty good. We are very rarely seeing them to be superior to what you can get on the open market. So it's just it it used to be a little more likely that people would stay on that. It's just becoming very, very rare. And the thing to the thing to know, obviously, you know, you people would think, well, you know, this is my employer. I don't want to lose this benefit. Well, at the end of the day, you've also played paid into Medicare for for 30, 40 years. So you don't want to lose that benefit either. So I I think I think I think you are you are wise in saying, okay, what else is available? Not just, oh, well, you know, go with that. So you're in a good place.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Yeah, thank you very much. I appreciate that. And I appreciate all the advice and the show. And you know, we're definitely going to call you on December 8th.

unknown 24:26

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Sounds good. Okay, Terry. Okay. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Bye-bye. Thanks. I was talking with my dad because I I I will frequently tell people wait till the eighth. And he's like, People want to do it right away. They don't want to wait. But I think the experience could be better uh for everyone if you wait until past the busy season. You get a little more time, your applications don't get delayed, get lost out in la la la. I mean, who knows?

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Medicare website crashes, you know, the first week of December every year.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Oh, and that's also true. Because it's like all the last minuteers.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Fifty percent of America waits to the last fifty, you know, seven days. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Uh yeah, they it's like they get past Thanksgiving and it's like, oh, I need to think about next year. Which I'm the same way. Uh it's a deadline is a very good thing for most of the people.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Yeah, Thanksgiving, I think, has a lot to do with that.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

But it usually when I'm talking to clients on the phone myself personally, uh, you know, and they've got a March 1st effective date, I tell them, let's meet on uh March uh December 9th. Yeah. You know, because on the 8th, I'll be flat on my back.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

After a 53-day marathon. You know, there's what is there, 18, 19 million Medicare recipients in this country right now? No, on Medicare? Is it seven?

SPEAKER_00 25:42

There's seventy million. There's there's three and a half to four million people that start Medicare every year. That's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Okay, we're gonna wrap it up for today. We have a short show today. The entire company is gonna go to a Royals baseball game. So we are headed out here in just a few moments for that. Tomorrow, join us. Uh you're gonna learn how to prevent billing mistakes while using your Medicare coverage. I would say half of the calls we get uh once you're a customer of ours are related to some sort of billing mistake. And there's usually a pretty simple solution. So join us tomorrow. You'll learn how we help you navigate through that. See you tomorrow.