johnnydoom Medicare at 65 is essentially based on the prior 2 years of taxes filed. Impacts the IRMAA which is added on to the min Medicare payment. IRMAA makes up for the Medicare shortfall or the better off salary folks to help pay the overall cost. I've met people who retired at 63 to try and get their initial Medicare & IRMAA low. There is a form to file to show immediate salary change once you do retire, so not always a good strategy.
IRMAA sucks, Now, I was using TRICARE Prime and paying $300/year for full medical care to Medicare and IRMAA monthly--twice what I was paying annually now monthly.
Once you take Social Security, Medicare is deducted automatically--I don't like this part, liked paying with my rewards credit card as I did not take Social Security until my FRA (66.5)
Of course, you can opt out of Medicare if you have a better plan (Opt out is thing you must do now just ignore), but if you elect to take later there are some penalties for not taking it at 65. So far, I've no issues using it and finding people who accept. No serious issues medically and my prescriptions are free to me with TRICARE.
Went to orthopedic for my shoulder--trying to avoid surgery for rotator cuff tear, got a shot this time, no copay.