Your Medicare Card (2024)

FAQs

How do I get answers to Medicare? ›

Live chat with us, and find local organizations that can help answer your Medicare questions. You can also: Call us at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). Help from Medicare is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays.

Although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the agency in charge of the Medicare program, Social Security processes your application for Original Medicare (Part A and Part B). We provide general information about the Medicare program and can help you get a replacement Medicare card.

If you have your card, your Medicare number will be the unique 11-digit number on the front of the card. If you don't have your card and you need your Medicare number right away, it is easy to find by logging into your MyMedicare.gov account.

contact your plan directly to learn about your 2024 costs. Do you know what isn't new this year? Your Medicare card. Medicare beneficiaries are not receiving new cards this year, but scammers may try to convince you otherwise.

En español | Medicare: Am I Eligible? AARP's Medicare Question and Answer Tool works as an online planning resource, designed to assist those who are eligible for Medicare benefits as well as those who are unsure.

If you cannot use our online services, we can help you by phone when you call your local Social Security office or our toll-free National 800 Number. You can find the phone number for your local office by using our Office Locator.

Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.

Social Security tax FAQs

Social Security income can be taxable no matter how old you are. It all depends on whether your total combined income exceeds a certain level set for your filing status. You may have heard that Social Security income is not taxed after age 70; this is false.

Your card has a Medicare number that's unique to you — it's not your Social Security Number. This helps protect your identity. The card shows: You have Medicare Part A (listed as HOSPITAL), Part B (listed as MEDICAL), or both.

Do you automatically get a Medicare card when you turn 65? ›

Approximately 3 months prior to your 65th birthday, Medicare will send you an initial enrollment package containing general information about Medicare, a questionnaire and your red-white-and-blue Medicare card.

Everyone who enrolls in Medicare receives a red, white, and blue Medicare card. This card lists your name and the dates that your Original Medicare hospital insurance (Part A) and medical insurance (Part B) began.

The new Medicare cards will not contain your Social Security number. This is the only difference between the old cards and the new cards. The MBI numbers on the new Medicare cards are unique and randomly assigned to each individual.

The hospital insurance trust fund will be completely gone by 2028, which means the government has five years to change the equation. Read the Medicare trustees report. An ever-so-slightly more optimistic view from the Congressional Budget Office is that the hospital insurance trust fund will be depleted by 2030.

You'll get an Original Medicare card in the mail when you first enroll. And you'll receive a Medicare Advantage plan card or a Part D card when you first enroll. As long as you're enrolled in Medicare and pay your monthly premiums, these Medicare cards do not expire.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides information about Medicare coverage, Medicare health plans, Medicare quality initiatives and free publications. The Medicare Helpline: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) TTY: 1-877-486-2048. Find your state Medical Assistance Office.

If you wish to submit a complaint or offer us a suggestion or compliment, you can call us on 1800 132 468. If you use assistive technology or are overseas, you can also call us on: the National Relay Service if you're deaf, have hearing loss or have speech disability. our free direct-call TTY service on 1800 810 586.