Each month the Regular Transcript and Selection Pass (RETAP) Operation identifies
records for Medicare entitlement. Five months prior to attaining age 65 and five months
prior to the 25th month a beneficiary has entitlement to disability benefits, RETAP establishes only
hospital insurance (HI) entitlement on the master beneficiary record (MBR) for beneficiaries
who reside in foreign countries.
RETAP does not establish Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) entitlement for beneficiaries
living in foreign countries because the law does not allow for automatic enrollment
into SMI. The Social Security Administration (SSA) sends the HI entitlement information
to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS notifies the beneficiaries
about their entitlement to HI and eligibility to enroll in SMI via the foreign initial
enrollment period (IEP) package. CMS mails the foreign IEP package four months prior
to the age 65 attainment month or four months prior to the 25th month of disability benefit entitlement. The foreign IEP package contains:
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Welcome to Medicare letter;
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Welcome to Medicare booklet that provides an overview of the Medicare program;
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Return envelope to mail the Form CMS-40B to SSA’s Division of International Operations (DIO).
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Return envelope to mail the Form CMS-40B to SSA’s Division of International Operations (DIO).
Beneficiaries do not receive their Medicare card in the foreign IEP package. For a
detailed description of the foreign IEP package, see HI 00805.125D.