Replacement Medicare Card — How to Get One

The two ways to get a replacement

If your Medicare card is lost or damaged, there are two ways to get another one.

• Route 1 — online. Log into (or create) your secure Medicare account at Medicare.gov. There you can print an official copy of your card, or order a replacement card.
• Route 2 — by phone. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to order a replacement card to be sent in the mail. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048.

How long will it take?

Medicare’s own card page does not promise a delivery time.

Some other websites quote a number of days, but those numbers do not come from Medicare.

If timing matters, ask when you call 1-800-MEDICARE.

Railroad Retirement Board

If you get your Medicare through the Railroad Retirement Board instead, call the RRB at 1-877-772-5772 for a replacement card.

TTY users can call the RRB at 1-312-751-4701.

If your name changed

Your card shows the name Social Security has on file for you.

Update your name with Social Security, and your Medicare card follows that name.

Same number or new number?

A replacement card normally shows the SAME Medicare Number as your old card.

If you believe someone else has used your Medicare Number, call 1-800-MEDICARE.

In that case Medicare can issue a new number.

Real card or scam?

Not every card that arrives in the mail is fake.

A replacement you asked for yourself, through one of the two routes above, is the real thing.

Medicare’s own words: “Medicare will never call you uninvited and ask you to give us personal or private information.”

If someone calls and asks for your Medicare Number, hang up, then call 1-800-MEDICARE yourself.

Keep your number safe

Guard your Medicare card like it is a credit card.

Give your Medicare Number only to your doctor, your health plan, your pharmacy, or other people who should have it.