How to Qualify for the Medicare Disability Benefit
Medicare automatically comes with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.
When you’re applying for disability benefits, you have to prove:
- You have severe health problems.
- You can’t work because of your health.
- You won’t be able to work for at least a year.
SSDI is for people of working age who are unable to work, giving them early access to Medicare.
But the health care coverage doesn’t start immediately with disability benefits.
You have to wait 24 months after qualifying for disability to get Medicare.
That sounds rough, but you have one thing going for you: The time you spend waiting on approval for disability benefits can also count toward your wait for Medicare.
It often takes a year, or even approaching 24 months, to win Social Security Disability.
When you’re approved, Social Security will often place the date when you were officially eligible for SSDI as being a long while ago. So you’ve already got credit for that time, and you’re probably not going to have to wait two more full years for Medicare.
(You’ll receive a check for back pay on the income support portion of your benefits).
You might have a lot of questions about how Medicare works with SSDI.
You can ask our Alabama disability lawyer team anything you want in a free conversation as we get to know each other.
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What Else to Know About Medicare and SSD
Here some more important considerations on Medicare and Social Security Disability:
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI): People getting SSI (not SSDI) qualify for Medicaid, instead of Medicare.
- SSI-Medicaid Wait: When you qualify for SSI, which is based partly on financial need, you get access to Medicaid immediately. (No waiting period like with Medicare and SSDI.)
- Medicare Advantage: People who get Medicare can choose between different plans under “Medicare Advantage,” which is funded by the government but run by insurance companies.
- Different Parts of Medicare: Medicare Part A covers hospitalization and other extensive care. Part B covers doctor visits. Part C, which is Medicare Advantage, incudes services from A and B. Part D is for prescription medications.
- Maintaining Disability Eligibility: Health care coverage is obviously important when you’re living with medical impairments. Getting regular treatment is also important to maintaining your disability benefits. Medicare allows you to keep seeing doctors, which creates medical records, which show Social Security that your condition still qualifies for benefits.
An experienced Social Security Disability lawyer can help you navigate the process of getting disability benefits, so you can also get Medicare, and take care of your own health and well-being.
Help with Every Step of Getting Disability Benefits
Are you trying to figure out if you should even try getting disability benefits? Do you need to put in an application? Have you already applied, but been turned down? Your Alabama Social Security Disability lawyer can step in at any point and help you.
How Does Social Security Disability Work? Get Answers.
Social Security Disability is a huge, complicated program that often doesn’t seem like it cares much about you and your needs. Can’t get answers to your questions? Your disability attorney from The Clarkson Firm is the one who truly cares and guides you. Talk to us.
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