Hi,
I am a widow and I took survivor's benefits and Medicare at 66, my full retirement age. I will be 70 this month (June) and I applied for my own retirement benefits, which are substantially more. I received a letter from Social Security confirming the change, but it says that I will get a new Medicare card and the Medicare coverage will begin in August. Will I have a two month gap in medical coverage?

Thank you.

Hi,

It's normal to have your Medicare number change when you switch from drawing survivor benefits to drawing your own benefits, and there shouldn't be any gap in your coverage when that occurs. The wording of the letter you received seems odd, though, so you may want to double check with Social Security just to make sure that everything was processed correctly.

Best, Jerry