Requirements to Apply for Medicare

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) manages and administers the Medicare system, which provides medical coverage for more than 40 million Americans. To be eligible for this program, you must be at least 65 years old, or suffering from certain medical conditions or diseases, which are described below.

65 Years Of Age

• With certain exceptions, all persons applying for free Medicare hospital insurance must be 65 years of age or older. Persons already enrolled in Social Security are automatically enrolled in the Medicare Insurance program when they become eligible. Medicare will issue an insurance card three months prior to your 65th birthday. The insurance becomes active on the first day of your birthday month.

U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident

• To be eligible for Medicare insurance, the applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. A permanent resident is a person who has lived in the United States for five continuous years. In addition, you or your spouse must have worked 30 to 39 quarters of Medicare covered employment.

Are You Disabled?

• You may also be eligible for Medicare even if you are younger than 65 year old, if you have a disability and have received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Railroad Retirement disability payments for 24 months. In order to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance, you must be unable to work for at least one year because of a qualifying mental or physical impairment (or a combination of impairments). Persons suffering from a terminal condition resulting from an injury or impairment also may be eligible. Apply for SSDI at your local Social Security Administration office. If you are approved for SSDI, you must wait five months for income benefits to begin and an additional 24 months before Medicare benefits are available.

Special Circumstances For Medicare Eligibility

• There are two special medical circumstances in which applicants may qualify for Medicare before turning 65. If you have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), Medicare benefits begin the first month that you receive SSDI monthly income benefits. If you suffer from permanent kidney failure (renal disease), undergoing dialysis and/or awaiting a kidney transplant, you also may be eligible for Medicare. Persons with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) receive Medicare coverage within three months of their first dialysis treatment, regardless of whether they have applied for or qualify for SSDI.

  To apply for coverage, contact the United States Social Security Administration. Review the requirements for Medicare as they apply to you. Contact the United States Social Security office nearest you or go to the agency's web site. Request a copy of Medicare & You (Publication No. CMS-10050).

  www.medicare.gov
  1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227)