Your Medicare card is an important piece of identification. It’s proof of your medical insurance advantages.
You’re typically required to current your Medicare card when looking for care. With out it, you could possibly find yourself paying much more out of pocket.
You’ll obtain your card within the mail alongside together with your “Welcome to Medicare” packet once you first enroll within the federal Medicare program.
Medicare enrollment occurs mechanically in case you already obtain Social Safety advantages once you flip 65. In any other case, you want to enroll in Medicare by yourself.
However how do you get a alternative in case your Medicare card is misplaced, stolen or broken?
The method is straightforward, so there’s no motive to place off getting your card changed.
Right here’s the way it works.
3 Methods to Get a Medicare Card Alternative
There are three major methods to exchange your Medicare card in case your unique is misplaced, stolen or broken.
- Log in to your MyMedicare account
- Name 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227)
- Log in to your My Social Safety Account
1. Log in to Your MyMedicare Account
That is the quickest technique to order a alternative card. Merely login to your Medicare online account, then click on Print my Medicare Card on the primary web page.
You’ll get a short lived alternative Medicare card on-line to print, and you can too request a brand new card be mailed to you.
Should you don’t have already got a web-based Medicare account, it’s straightforward to set one up. You’ll want your Medicare quantity, protection begin date, final title, zip code, birthday and e-mail tackle.
2. Name 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227)
Wait occasions could also be lengthy, however a customer support consultant can order you a brand new card.
3. Log in to Your My Social Safety Account
When you’re logged in to your My Social Security account, go to the Medicare Enrollment Element part and click on on Substitute Your Medicare Card. Then choose Mail My Alternative Medicare Card.
This can be a good possibility in case you don’t have already got a web-based Medicare account and may’t bear in mind your Medicare card quantity.
Should you obtain Railroad Retirement Board advantages, you may name 877-722-5772 to get a alternative card.
When you obtain your card within the mail, you can begin utilizing it instantly — no activation required.
Additionally, your Medicare card doesn’t expire and also you don’t must “renew” it every year.
The way to Get Different Well being Insurance coverage Playing cards Changed
The strategies above solely apply to your purple, white and blue Medicare card.
To get a alternative card on your Half D, Medicare Benefit or Medicaid plans, you’ll must contact these suppliers immediately.
You will discover the contact info on your Medicare Benefit plan or Half D plan by logging into your on-line Medicare account.
It’s sensible to make a copy of those different medical insurance playing cards in a secure place at dwelling alongside different essential paperwork — like your Social Safety card. This fashion you’ve got a backup in case your pockets is misplaced or stolen.
Make Certain Your Tackle Is As much as Date
Your new Medicare card will likely be mailed to the tackle on file with the Social Safety Administration.
Should you’ve moved not too long ago, ensure you have correct info on file with SSA. In any other case, your new card will go to the improper tackle.
You’ll additionally miss different essential paperwork from Medicare, like your abstract notices, which particulars the physician visits, companies and provides billed to Medicare in your title each three months.
You may replace your tackle in only a couple minutes by your My Social Safety account.
Don’t have a web-based Social Safety account? You can too name SSA’s nationwide customer support line at 800-772-1213 to replace your mailing tackle.
You’ll additionally must replace your tackle with the personal insurance coverage corporations that administer different Medicare advantages:
- Medicare complement insurance coverage coverage, often known as Medigap
- Half D prescription drug plan
- Personal insurance coverage for particular areas akin to dental, listening to and imaginative and prescient
How Lengthy Does it Take to Get a Medicare Card Alternative?
It often takes a month on your card to reach within the mail at your tackle on file with the Social Safety Administration.
Should you want your card sooner, you may at all times print it out of your Medicare account in a just some minutes.
Write down your Medicare quantity in a secure place for future reference. You don’t at all times want the bodily card to get care and advantages.
Why Your Medicare Card Is Essential
Your Medicare card is your key to medical insurance protection. It verifies your advantages and likewise permits suppliers to submit claims on your therapy.
You’ll must current your card everytime you go to a well being care supplier, like your physician or the ER.
You’ll additionally want the knowledge in your card to affix a Medicare well being plan or prescription drug plan, or to purchase a Medigap coverage.
If you wish to make adjustments to your protection throughout Medicare open enrollment, you need to have your Medicare card readily available.
Your Medicare card shows the next info:
- Your title.
- Your Medicare ID quantity, often known as your Medicare beneficiary identifier (MBI).
- Begin dates of your Half A and Half B protection.
It’s essential to maintain your Medicare card secure. Whereas Medicare playing cards not show your Social Safety quantity, dangerous actors can nonetheless use your card quantity to commit Medicare identification theft.
You may report Medicare identification theft and suspected fraud by calling the U.S. Well being and Human Companies hotline at 800-447-8477.
Rachel Christian is a Licensed Educator in Private Finance and a senior author for The FinanceGrabber.