How to Sign Up for Medicare B

Part B is the outpatient medical benefit portion of Medicare. Medicare is the federally administered health care system that provides service to the elderly and disabled in the United States. Part B covers doctor visits, medical equipment, home health care and many other services that are performed on an outpatient basis.

Instructions

• 1

  Assess your health care needs. Determine how much outpatient care you need. When it comes to making a decision about coverage later on, this information will be important.

• 2

  Determine why you are eligible. The process for signing up for Part B depends on why you are eligible for Medicare. For example, if you are eligible for Medicare because you have been diagnosed with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), your sign-up process would look differently than the process for someone who is eligible for Medicare because they are aged 65 or more.

• 3

  Make sure you are in an enrollment period. There are only certain times in which Medicare recipients are allowed to make changes to their plans. If you are new to Medicare, when you can enroll depends on why you are eligible.

  If you are eligible due to age, you can sign up any time during the three months before, the month of, or the three months after your 65th birthday. If you are eligible due to ESRD, Medicare will begin four months after you start dialysis or the month you are admitted to a hospital for a kidney transplant. If you are eligible because you have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), you can enroll the first month you receive SSDI benefits. Disabled individuals are eligible to enroll in Medicare the 24th month after they begin receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. These periods are known as the initial enrollment period

  If your initial enrollment period has passed, you can sign up during the annual coordinated election period, which lasts from November 15 to December 31.

• 4

  Review your Part B options. In addition to traditional Medicare, you also have the option to select a private Medicare health plan known as a Medicare Advantage plan. If you have specific health needs, a Medicare Advantage plan may suit your condition better than Part B. Examine your options by exploring the health plan finder tool at Medicare.gov, which will give you information on Medicare Advantage plans near you by asking you specific information about your health care needs, which you have already assessed in step 1.

• 5

  Enroll. If you are opting to stay in traditional Medicare, you may not even need to take this step. The disabled, those with ESRD and ALS, and Social Security Insurance recipients are automatically enrolled in Part B once they qualify unless they actively opt out.

  If you are not automatically enrolled or if you mistakenly opted out, you simply need to enroll at any Social Security branch office.

  If you would like to receive your Part B benefits through a private health plan, contact the plan directly for enrollment details.