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July 27, 2022 General Interest

The Benefits of Having a Medicare.gov Account

The Medicare.gov website has lots of information for Medicare beneficiaries as well as those just starting to navigate the Medicare program. You can use the Medicare.gov website to:

  • Learn basic information about Medicare
  • Learn how health plans and drug coverage work
  • Learn what Medicare covers
  • Find health and drug plans in your area
  • Compare health and drug plans
  • Find care providers
  • Compare hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers near you
  • Learn how to sign up for coverage
  • Locate forms, publications, and information about things Medicare mails you
  • File claims, complaints, and appeals
  • Use Medicare’s live chat feature (available 24/7 except some holidays)

Many of the tasks above can be completed without creating a Medicare.gov account. However, setting up your secure account provides additional benefits.

  • View your Medicare Summary Notice within 24 hours of your visit
  • Manage details and claims
  • Receive letters
  • Retain a record of your drugs, pharmacy preferences, and see information about your current coverage. This information is especially useful when comparing alternative coverage plans.

If you’re not ready to create an account yet, you can sign up for news and updates at the bottom of the Medicare.gov website’s homepage. They will email you things like reminders about open enrollment and ways to save costs.

If you are new to Medicare, you will need to sign up for coverage through the Social Security Administration. You can apply online. The first step in that process is to create a my Social Security account.

It’s important to remember that the government uses .gov web addresses, so you need to be sure you’re applying on the official Medicare.gov and SSA.gov sites. If you believe you’ve found a scam website, please reach out to the Wisconsin Senior Medicare Patrol at 888-818-2611 or email smp-wi@gwaar.org to report it.