"I need a Social Security disability check, to be sure. But I also need medical insurance to pay my medical bills. When do I get Medicare?"
Medicare is a very good health insurance plan from the federal government--available to disabled persons and persons who are at least 65 years of age. It pays for hospitalization and outpatient medical treatments. It comes with Social Security disability benefits, as part of the package.
However, Medicare coverage is not immediate. There is a 24 month waiting period for Medicare. The 24 months begin with the date you first become eligible for a disability payment. This is not necessarily the date you got approved. It is the date of onset of your disability, plus an additional 5 months for the waiting period.
So, if Social Security finds that you became disabled, for example, on March 1, 2016, your first payment under Title II would begin August 1, 2016. (That's your onset date, plus the 5-month waiting period). Your 24 month waiting period for Medicare begins August 1, 2016. You would get Medicare on August 1, 2018.
It's one of the ways the US government saves money at your expense--by making you wait 29 months from your disability onset date (really) to get Medicare.
Medicare is a very good health insurance plan from the federal government--available to disabled persons and persons who are at least 65 years of age. It pays for hospitalization and outpatient medical treatments. It comes with Social Security disability benefits, as part of the package.
However, Medicare coverage is not immediate. There is a 24 month waiting period for Medicare. The 24 months begin with the date you first become eligible for a disability payment. This is not necessarily the date you got approved. It is the date of onset of your disability, plus an additional 5 months for the waiting period.
So, if Social Security finds that you became disabled, for example, on March 1, 2016, your first payment under Title II would begin August 1, 2016. (That's your onset date, plus the 5-month waiting period). Your 24 month waiting period for Medicare begins August 1, 2016. You would get Medicare on August 1, 2018.
It's one of the ways the US government saves money at your expense--by making you wait 29 months from your disability onset date (really) to get Medicare.
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