Eligibility for Medicare

How Can I Obtain Medicare?

There are 2 groups who have eligibility for Medicare:

  • Individuals who are 65 years old or older
  • Individuals younger than 65 years old who possess specific illnesses and disabilities

You may assume that the sign up process for a huge government plan such as Medicare might be confusing but the process is fairly simple. Many individuals are automatically signed up upon eligibility.

Eligibility for Medicare and the Enrollment for Individuals Ages 65 years and older

All American citizens who are ages 65 or older are eligible for Medicare. Once you start obtaining checks from Social Security, the enrollment within the program is automatic. You will also obtain a Medicare card 3 months prior to your 65th birthday. Benefits will start on the 1st day of the month of your 65th birthday.

If you are not obtaining Social Security payments, you must enroll into Medicare yourself. The Administration of Social Security will handle the overall process of enrollment for Medicare. In order to take advantage of your benefits in a timely manner, you must apply 3 months prior to your 65th birthday.

Eligibility for Medicare and the Enrollment for Individuals Who Have Illnesses and Disabilities

Regardless of a person’s age, those who possess kidney failure, a few other disabilities and Lou Gehrig’s disease additionally gets Medicare. But, they may have a period of waiting prior to getting the benefits of Medicare. These are a few details:

  • ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Just at the time as you obtain benefits of Social Security Disability for Lou Gehrig’s Disease, you will be enrolled automatically into Medicare. There’s isn’t any waiting period.
  • Failure of kidney’s. In order to be eligible, you should possess renal disease which is end-stage and be required to have a kidney transplantation or dialysis. Typically, you cannot obtain Medicare until 3 months following your beginning the dialysis. When you are diagnosed with failure of the kidneys, contact the Administration of Social Security in order to enroll within Medicare.
  • Other disabilities in which you obtain benefits of Social Security Disability. You cannot obtain Medicare until 2 years following your qualification of Social Security Disability. At this time, the SSA must automatically sign the individual up.

If you aren’t obtaining coverage for Medicare and sense that you ought to, contact the SSA.

Periods of Enrollment for Medicare

You need to pay a lot of attention to the Medicare deadlines of enrollment. Generally, Medicare puts limitations on the ability to drop or add coverage after the official periods of enrollment. Here is a bit of information:

  • First Enrollment Period. If there is a possibility, always be sure to sign up in the “initial enrollment period.” It will last 7 months, beginning 3 months prior to the month of your sixty-fifth birthday and completing 3 months after-wards. In this period, you could be signing up for all the coverage of Medicare you need.
  • Other periods of enrollment. When you are in a plan, you could only make alterations in certain periods of enrollment. Those dates will depend on the plan. Typical enrollment within Part B of Medicare is between January 1st and March 31st, with the coverage starting that year in July. For prescription drug coverage of Medicare, many individuals could just enroll or make alterations to the plans between November 15th and December 31st every year.
  • You should be on the lookout for penalties of Medicare.

Sign up early for Medigap. If you require a Medigap program, you must purchase it within 6 months of obtaining Part B of Medicare. In that period, you are protected. You are guaranteed to obtain any Medigap program you wish for. Yet if you attempt to purchase it following the 6 month duration, the insurance company could turn you down or charge you higher prices.