Can You Get Medicare at Age 62?

The requirements to enroll in Medicare are very few compared to retirement programs. Basically, if you are 65 or older, you are eligible to enroll in Medicare and enjoy its benefits. People who pay Medicare tax and their spouses are eligible to receive Medicare Part A benefits for free, but they still must pay premiums for other Medicare parts.

Medicare Enrollment Age

• You become eligible for Medicare benefits at age 65. Exceptions apply if you are disabled and have received Social Security Disability benefits for at least two years. People who are not disabled only qualify for Medicare at age 65. You can try to apply for other programs that might be available to you, such as Medicaid. Medicaid is a medical insurance program for people with low incomes, funded by the federal government together with state governments. If, for example, you are 62 years old and you have already retired, the only way in which you qualify to receive Medicare is if you started receiving disability benefits when you were 60 years old or younger.

Medicare and Disability

• If you turn 62 years of age and you have been receiving Social Security Disability benefits for at least two years, starting at age 60, you can have Medicare coverage. If this is the case, you do not need to worry about enrolling in Medicare Part A ---hospital insurance --- or Part B ---medical insurance --- as the Social Security office automatically enrolls you to receive both parts of Medicare coverage. However, you do need to sign up for Medicare Part C --- advantage plans provided by private companies --- and Part D --- prescription drug coverage --- if you want these benefits. You also must pay monthly premiums for Part B, Part C and Part D coverage.

How to Enroll

• If you qualify to receive Medicare Part A and Part B when you are 62 years of age, you can also enroll in Part C and Part D. To do so, you must contact the plan in which you want to enroll three months before your 25th month of disability. You have up to three months after your 15th disability month to enroll in a Part C and a Part D plan. The Medicare website has a list with all available plans for Part C and Part D. You must choose the plans you want, and you can then enroll by calling the plan, filling out an online application or calling Medicare.

Penalties

• If you are eligible to enroll in Medicare at age 62 because you are disabled, you have to be careful to enroll in all the coverage you need during the enrollment periods mentioned above. If you do not enroll at the right moment and you do not have any other type of insurance that has the same coverage as Medicare, such as a group insurance policy, when you do enroll for Medicare, the Social Security office adds a late penalty to the monthly premiums you must pay for the coverage you are adding.