Title: Medicare mistakes seniors wish they’d known sooner
Article Snip: "... the most serious costs tied to those choices often surface years later. By the time health declines and medical needs increase, options may already be narrowed or gone.
Medicare decisions made quickly or without guidance can carry permanent consequences. Late-enrollment penalties, coverage restrictions, and lost flexibility are frequently irreversible, making Medicare a core retirement planning decision, not a box to be checked.
The remedy, advisers say, is prevention through planning. ...Medicare.gov offers this example: If you wait two full years, or 24 months, to enroll in Part B and do not qualify for a Special Enrollment Period, you owe a 20% penalty, reflecting two missed 12-month periods.
For 2026, that would work out as follows:
• Standard Part B premium: $202.90
• Late enrollment penalty (20%): $40.58"