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What is Medicare?
Medicare is a federal health insurance
plan for people who are age 65 or
older. People who are disabled or
have permanent kidney failure can get
Medicare at any age.
Parts of Medicare
Social Security enrolls you in Original
Medicare (Part A and Part B).
• Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance)
helps pay for inpatient care in a
hospital or limited time at a skilled
nursing facility (following a hospital
stay). Part A also pays for some
home health care and hospice care.
• Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance)
helps pay for services from doctors
and other health care providers,
outpatient care, home health care,
durable medical equipment, and
many preventive services.
Other parts of Medicare are run by
private insurance companies that follow
rules set by Medicare.
• Supplemental (Medigap) policies
help pay Medicare out-of-pocket
copayments, coinsurance, and
deductible expenses.
• Medicare Advantage Plan (previously
known as Part C) includes all benets
and services covered under Part A
and Part B — prescription drugs and
additional benets such as vision,
hearing, and dental — bundled
together in one plan.
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• Medicare Part D (Medicare
prescription drug coverage) helps
cover the cost of prescription drugs.
You have choices for how you get
Medicare coverage. If you choose to
have Original Medicare (Part A and Part
B) coverage, you can buy a Medicare
Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy
from a private insurance company. If
you choose Medicare Advantage, these
plans cover many of the same benets a
Medigap policy covers. This may include
benets like extra days in the hospital
after you’ve used the days that Medicare
covers.
For more information, read Medicare
(Publication No. 05-10043) online
at
www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10043.pdf.
Who should use the online
Medicare application?
You should apply online for Medicare,
if you:
• Are within three months of turning age
65 or older.
• Want Medicare benets and have not
previously applied for Medicare.
• Reside in the United States or one of
its territories or commonwealths.
You can still apply for Medicare online
even if you are not ready to apply for
Social Security retirement benets.
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NOTE: We automatically enroll people
who already get Social Security
retirement or disability benets in Parts
A and B. They don’t need to complete
an application. Residents of Puerto Rico
and foreign countries will not receive
Part B automatically. They must elect
this benet.
Why should I apply online for
Medicare benets?
Applying online for Medicare benets
offers several advantages:
• You can start your application
immediately — you do not have to
wait for an appointment.
• You can apply from the comfort of
your home, or from any computer with
a secure connection.
• You can avoid a trip to a
Social Security ofce, saving you time
and money.
You do not have to complete the
application in one sitting. If you need
a break, you can stop working on the
application and resume it without losing
any of the information you entered. You
can check the status of your Medicare
application with a personal
my Social Security account.
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(over)
How secure is my
personal information?
We use the most secure technology to
keep your information private online.
What do I have to do?
Follow these simple steps:
1. Before applying, visit our
“Checklist for Online Applications”
at www.ssa.gov/hlp/isba/10/
isba-checklist.pdf to nd out
what you need to prepare.
2. Go to www.ssa.gov/benets/
medicare and select “Apply for
Medicare Only.”
3. Use the “Related Information” links if
you need more information.
4. Apply and complete the application,
which normally takes 10 to 30
minutes. To complete the application,
please sign in to your personal
my Social Security account. If you
don’t have an account, you can create
one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount. If
you’re unable to create an account,
you can still le a claim and a
representative will contact you to
verify your identity.
5. Select “Submit Now” to send
your application electronically to
Social Security.
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What happens next?
• You’ll see a receipt on the screen
that you can print and keep for
your records.
• You’ll also get an application number
you can use to check the status of
your application.
• We’ll review your application and
contact you if we need clarication or
if we need to see any documents.
• We’ll process your application and
mail you a letter with our decision.
When you are ready to apply
for retirement benets
We can help you make an informed
decision about when to apply for benets
based on your individual and family
circumstances. We have the tools to
help you. For example:
• Our Plan for Retirement tool at
www.ssa.gov/myaccount allows you
to get an estimate of your personal
retirement benets, and to see the
effects of different retirement age
scenarios.
• Our When to Start Receiving
Retirement Benets fact sheet
(Publication No. 05-10147) helps
you understand how Social Security
ts into your retirement decision. For
details go to www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-
05-10147.pdf.
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• Our online retirement pages at
www.ssa.gov/retire give you
information about your Social Security
retirement benets under current
law. The online retirement pages
also point out things you may want to
consider as you prepare to retire.
Contacting Us
The most convenient way to do business
with us is to visit www.ssa.gov to
get information and use our online
services. There are several things you
can do online: apply for benets; start
or complete your request for an original
or replacement Social Security card;
get useful information; nd publications;
and get answers to frequently asked
questions.
When you open a personal
my Social Security account, you have
more capabilities. You can review
your Social Security Statement, verify
your earnings, and get estimates of
future benets. You can also print a
benet verication letter, change your
direct deposit information, request a
replacement Medicare card, and get a
replacement SSA-1099/1042S. Access
to your personal my Social Security
account may be limited for users outside
the United States.
If you don’t have access to the internet,
we offer many automated services by
telephone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, so you do not need to speak with
a representative.
If you need to speak with someone, call
us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 or at our
TTY number, 1-800-325-0778, if you’re
deaf or hard of hearing. A member of our
staff can answer your call from
8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.
We provide free interpreter services
upon request. For fast access to a SSA
representative, try calling early in the
day (between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local
time) or later in the day. We are less
busy later in the week (Wednesday to
Friday) and later in the month.
Social Security Administration
Publication No. 05-10530
August 2022 (June 2020 edition may be used)
Apply Online for Medicare —
Even if You Are Not Ready To Retire
Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense
