Under 65?
Under 65 and on Social Security Disability
If you are on Social Security disability, you will be eligible for Medicare on the first day of your 25th month on disability. You will automatically receive your Medicare card about 3 months before this date.
You will have an initial enrollment period, just like someone who has turned 65.
If you do not have other health coverage, such as from a spouse or employer, you will want to keep the Medicare part B and pay the Part B premium. The Part A will have no premium. If you have insurance from the Healthcare Marketplace, that would have to be discontinued and replaced with Medicare.
Many people under 65 and on disability do not realize they can purchase a supplement or enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan. I have seen people who have Medicare due to a disability just have parts A and B without the additional coverage because they don't know or no one is there to help them. This leaves them exposed to a large medical expense.
As a general rule, the expense for a supplement is much greater for someone under 65 than someone 65 or older. This makes the purchase of a supplement impractical in most cases.
People on disability may miss the fact that they can enroll in a low or zero premium Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage. Since there may be no additional cost, there is no reason not to do this. They will then have catastrophic protection from large medical bills and drug coverage. There would also be copays, or coinsurance for medical services, instead of paying the 20% that Medicare does not cover. For primary care doctors the copay may even be zero.
When turning 65, a person on Medicare due to a disability will have another initial enrollment period. At this time, they will receive favorable supplement rates and can make a choice as to whether a supplement or advantage plan works best.
Do you still have questions? Take a look at our Medicare Basics outline, or give us a call at 931-287-0799. We’d be glad to help you!
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