How to Sign Up for Medicare When You Turn 65

The insurance mail starts arriving months before the birthday, and none of it is the application. The common assumption is that turning 65 enrolls a person automatically. The Social Security Administration page on when to sign up says automatic enrollment in Part A applies to people 65 or older who already receive Social Security benefits, which leaves everyone else to file on their own.

Check whether enrollment is already happening

That same Social Security page states that someone age 65 or older who receives Social Security benefits will be automatically enrolled in Part A. It then lists three enrollment periods for everyone else: the Initial Enrollment Period at 65, a Special Enrollment Period tied to employer coverage, and a General Enrollment Period for people who missed both.

Mark the seven month window around the birthday

Medicare's page on when Medicare coverage starts says the Initial Enrollment Period lasts 7 months, starting 3 months before you turn 65 and ending 3 months after the month you turn 65. The same page says signing up before the birthday month means coverage starts the month you turn 65, signing up during the birthday month or the 3 months after means coverage starts the next month, and coverage always starts on the first of the month.

File the application through Social Security

Medicare does not take the application. Its page on being ready to sign up for Part A and Part B says to contact Social Security. The Social Security online Medicare application says people 65 or older can enroll online for Parts A and B, or Part A only, and lists 800-772-1213 as the phone route.

Note what Part A and Part B each cover

The Medicare page on the parts of Medicare says Part A covers inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care. The same page says Part B helps cover services from doctors and other health care providers, outpatient care, home health care, durable medical equipment, and many preventive services.

Claim the Special Enrollment Period if still working

Medicare's page on working past 65 says a person covered by a group health plan through work can wait until that job or that insurance ends to sign up for Part B without a late enrollment penalty, and that an 8-month Special Enrollment Period starts at that point. The Social Security page adds that sign-up is allowed at any time while still working and covered, or within 8 months of the coverage ending.

If the window has already closed. Social Security calls the fallback the General Enrollment Period, January 1 to March 31 each year, with coverage beginning the month after sign-up and, in its wording, typically a life-long penalty. Medicare's page on avoiding late enrollment penalties describes an extra 10 percent for each year Part B could have been taken but was not, charged for as long as Part B is held.

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