You will receive your Medicare card in your Welcome to Medicare package. The timing is based on how you enrolled in Medicare.
If you’re already receiving Social Security benefits at least four months before your 65th birthday, you’re enrolled in Medicare automatically. You will receive your card in the mail three months before your Medicare coverage starts.
You can start using the card at the beginning of the month you turn 65, or if your birthday occurs on the first of the month, you can start using it at the beginning of the previous month. The start date for Part A and Part B will appear on the front of the card.
You’re enrolled automatically in parts A and B, except in Puerto Rico, where you’re enrolled automatically only in Part A. Your Medicare Part B premiums, $170.10 a month in 2022, will generally be deducted automatically from your Social Security benefits. High earners pay higher premiums.
If your spouse — or you — still work and you have health insurance from a company with 20 or more employees, you may not need Part B or its premiums yet. If you don’t want to keep Part B, check the box on the back of the Medicare card that says, “I do NOT want Part B (Medical Insurance),” sign the back of the card and send it back to Medicare. Medicare will send you a new card in a few weeks with Part A only.
Before…
