How to sign up
How to sign up for Medicare.
Some people are signed up automatically. Others need to apply. Here is how to tell which one applies to you, and when to act.
Step one
Automatic, or do you need to apply?
Already getting Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board benefits?
Yes Signed up automatically
Already getting Social Security?
If you already get benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board, you get Part A and Part B automatically, starting the first day of the month you turn 65. If your birthday is on the 1st of the month, coverage starts the first day of the month before.
Your Medicare card comes in the mail about 3 months before your 65th birthday.
If you don't want Part B, let Social Security know before the coverage start date on your card.
No You need to apply
Not getting those benefits yet?
If you aren't getting Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board benefits yet, for example because you're still working, you need to sign up for Medicare yourself.
Under 65 with a disability? You get Part A and Part B automatically after you've received disability benefits for 24 months.
Timing
Your 7-month Initial Enrollment Period.
Your first chance to sign up lasts 7 months. It starts 3 months before the month you turn 65 and ends 3 months after it.
Sign up in the 3 months before
Your coverage starts the month you turn 65.
Sign up in your birthday month or after
Your coverage starts the month after you sign up.
Birthday on the 1st of the month? Your 7-month window shifts one month earlier: it starts 4 months before your birthday month and ends 2 months after it.
Working past 65
Still covered through a job?
If you or your spouse have health coverage through a current job, you can generally sign up for Part B later without waiting for a yearly window.
While you're covered
Any time
You can sign up for Part A and/or Part B any time you're still covered by the group health plan from that job.
When it ends
8 months to sign up
You have 8 months to sign up after the job or the coverage ends, whichever happens first.
That 8-month window still applies if you choose COBRA.
Before you change anything, talk to your employer's benefits administrator about how their plan works with Medicare.
If you miss it
Missed your window?
General Enrollment Period
January 1 to March 31
If you missed your first window and don't qualify for another one, you can sign up between January 1 and March 31 each year. Coverage starts the month after you sign up.
Late enrollment penalty
It can cost more, for longer
If you don't sign up for Part B when you're first eligible, you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty for as long as you have Part B, and you may have to wait to sign up.
Drug coverage (Part D) has its own late penalty if you go without other creditable drug coverage.
How to apply
Ways to sign up.
You sign up for Medicare through Social Security, unless you worked for a railroad.
Online
Online at Social Security. Medicare.gov describes this as the easiest and fastest way.
By phone
Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213.
In person
Visit your local Social Security office.
Railroad workers
Worked for a railroad? Contact the Railroad Retirement Board at 1-877-772-5772.
After Parts A and B are active
Then the plan choices start.
Once you have Part A and Part B, you choose how to get your coverage: stay with Original Medicare and add a drug plan (and possibly a Medigap policy), or join a Medicare Advantage plan instead.
Sources: Medicare.gov: How do I sign up for Medicare? · Medicare.gov: When does Medicare coverage start? · Medicare & You 2027 (official handbook) pp.10, 15-18, 23, 83. Rules can change; Medicare.gov has the latest.
Want help with the next step?
A Licensed Insurance Agent can walk you through your options, or you can start comparing plans on your own. There is no obligation to enroll.