Medicare questions, answered

Through Social Security, not Medicare itself: online at ssa.gov/medicare, by phone at 1‑800‑772‑1213, or at a local office. Already receiving Social Security checks at 65? You're enrolled automatically — the card just shows up. Your window is seven months: three before your birthday month, the month itself, three after. The full walkthrough — including what to do if you're still working — is on Applying for Medicare the First Time.

65, for most people. 62 is a Social Security age, not a Medicare age — retiring at 62 leaves a three-year coverage gap that usually gets bridged with an ACA Marketplace plan. Before 65, Medicare comes only through 24 months on Social Security disability, ALS, or end-stage renal disease.

Yes — call Social Security at 1‑800‑772‑1213 (TTY 1‑800‑325‑0778). They'll take the application by phone or book an appointment to finish it. Online at ssa.gov is usually faster, but the phone path is fully official. Details and what to have ready: the application guide.

The calendar most people never see: your 7-month Initial Enrollment Period around 65 · the fall Annual Enrollment Period (Oct 15 – Dec 7) · the Advantage Open Enrollment Period (Jan 1 – Mar 31, one switch if you're already in an Advantage plan) · Special Enrollment Periods after events like moving or losing employer coverage · and Medigap's own one-time 6-month window. Want the dates that apply to you sent before they open? Set a free enrollment-window reminder.

Check which card you hand the receptionist. The red-white-and-blue federal card means Original Medicare. A card from a private insurance company means you're almost certainly in a Medicare Advantage plan (the federal card stays in the drawer). Your medicare.gov account lists your exact enrollment if the wallet test is ambiguous.

Advantage replaces how you receive your benefits: private plan, its own network and copays, usually drugs included, low added premium. Medigap supplements Original Medicare: any doctor that accepts Medicare, most costs covered, real monthly premium. The decision runs on five questions — doctors, travel, budget vs. risk, the underwriting one-way door, and extras — worked through in Advantage vs. Medigap: how to actually decide.

The question to ask before enrolling, not after — and the answer changes every January 1. The three-source check (your doctor's billing office, the plan's directory, and Medicare's own tools) is laid out in Will Your Doctors Carry Over?

Most people in 2026: Part A $0 premium (10+ working years), Part B $202.90/month with a $283 deductible, Part D varies by plan with covered drug costs capped at $2,100 for the year. Higher incomes pay more for B and D. The full cost tables live in the 2026 Medicare guide; if paying for it is the worry, start with Help Paying for Medicare.

Appeal — genuinely. A large share of first-level appeals succeed, and the process is free. Original Medicare: follow your Medicare Summary Notice within 120 days. Advantage plan: request reconsideration from the plan. Step-by-step, with the deadlines: How to Appeal a Medicare Denial.

Print an official copy from your medicare.gov account in the next five minutes, or have a replacement mailed (about 30 days). Always free — anyone charging for a card or "verifying your number" first is running a scam. The quick version: Replace a Lost Medicare Card.

Depends what you're leaving and when — Advantage and Part D changes ride the enrollment calendar, Medigap can be dropped anytime but getting back in later may require underwriting, and dropping Part B itself is usually a mistake with a lifelong penalty attached. The safe exits, in order: Canceling or Changing a Medicare Plan.

Your ssa.gov account shows application status; your card typically arrives within a few weeks of approval. What each status means and when to actually worry: Check Your Medicare Application Status.

Yes — Medicare Savings Programs (state-run, can pay the Part B premium) and Extra Help (lowers drug costs). Both turn on income and asset limits your state sets, so no website can tell you that you qualify — but applying is free. What each program covers and where to apply: Help Paying for Medicare.

No cost, and premiums are identical with or without an agent — carriers pay set commissions, disclosed in how agents get paid. The honest catch: any agent can only show plans they're contracted for, which is exactly why the disclosure at the top of this page exists. What a conversation here actually looks like: Talk to a Licensed Agent.

1‑800‑MEDICARE (1‑800‑633‑4227), open around the clock — and for enrollment questions, Social Security at 1‑800‑772‑1213. Every official number, what each one handles, and how to spot the callers who aren't Medicare: How to Contact Medicare.