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nature73 Asked September 2020

How do I get my dad a replacement Medicare card?

Long story but..my dad's Medicare card was lost during a visit to the VA with my husband. We did all the maneuvers to find it to no avail, so I need to request a replacement. Dad has vascular dementia & lives in MC. However, the website is clear, in no uncertain terms, that you cannot request a replacement card for someone else, EVEN if you have their permission! I haven't called Social Security/Medicare yet to discuss the issue because I wondered if anyone had been through this & what tips I should know.

MJ1929 Oct 2020
Print it out online. Easy as pie -- and maybe too easy.

nature73 Oct 2020
Great idea about asking the MD's office for a copy. I had pictures of all his cards which made it easy to request a new card. I don't know how I could have handled getting him to the SS office!

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JoAnn29 Oct 2020
I have copies of my Nephews cards too. Basically to have them available if I needed to call Medicaid, his health insurance or Medicare. Never thought about copies to help with replacements. You can get away with it too I think by going thru the site but then u would need ID and password info if parent previously set up the acct.

Another way to get a copy would be at your Doctors office. They all now scan your card into their system in color. Just ask if a copy can be printed off.

Losing it at the doctor's it could have been left in copier or attached to his records by mistake. I took a disk to nephews doctors. When she asked one of the staff to get it, it could not be found. Really! Why was it not immediately put in his record?

AlvaDeer Oct 2020
Hi all: Nature responded below to another answer that she was able to replace the card by calling the 1 800 medicare number. She was able to do it easily because she had a copy of the card. That should be a lesson to us all for the future. You don't want to have to go through the Representative Payee things if you don't need to. It is long and onerous and requires documentation, and you need to make yearly reports to Social Security. All for the loss of a card. So copy your documents!

gladimhere Oct 2020
Who is the SS designated payee? That person should be able to request a new card.

Maidenkaz Oct 2020
I’m pretty sure you need to have his POA and make an appointment at Social security. Is he ambulatory? Can he go with you? You do need to call for an appointment and find out what documents you need to bring in. I tried to get a copy of my SS card online and they wanted all kinds of paperwork (driver’s license) to be mailed in and I don’t want to take the chance of putting originals in the mail so I haven’t gotten around to following through yet.
JoAnn29 Oct 2020
POAs are not recognized by government agencies.
AlvaDeer Sep 2020
Call to 1-800-medicare and ask them how you will go about getting replacement for your Dad.
nature73 Oct 2020
I called the 800 number & was able to get a replacement via voice response since I had a picture of his original card that had his Medicare # on it. Now we'll see if I get thrown in jail!! Thanks to all who responded.

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