Medicare B Card

Social Security sends a Medicare Initial Enrollement package, (containing information about Medicare, a questionnaire, and the red-white-and-blue Medicare card), about three months before a person's 65th birthday.

If you wait until your retirement age of 65 -- plus the appropriate number of months based upon your birth date -- to sign up for full Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, you will NOT receive a notice of your eligibility for Medicare at age 65.

You report that you had not received your Medicare Part B card about three weeks after you had applied, but you make no mention of Part A.

If you haven't received your Medicare Part A and Part B card by now, my suggestion is that you make an appointment with your local Social Security Office to get an update. You can also do this by phone or by using the Internet. But my personal preference, since I'm retired and have the time, is usually face-to-face.