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Can You Get Medicare If You've Never Been Employed?

Medicare tax qualifies American citizens to receive Medicare Part A for free when they reach 65 years of age. People who have not worked or paid Medicare tax cannot receive free Part A coverage. However, they might be able to purchase Part A, depending on whether they meet other requirements.

  1. Medicare Without Working

    • If you never paid Medicare tax because you never worked, you do not qualify for Medicare Part A free coverage as most citizens do. However, the Social Security Administration has given you the option of purchasing Medicare coverage if you meet Medicare's requirements. If this is your case, you can purchase Part A and all Medicare coverage, which includes Part B, Part C and Part D.

    Requirements to Purchase Medicare

    • You can purchase Medicare Part A if you have never worked, and you are an American citizen, or permanent resident, who is 65 years of age or older and willing to enroll in Part B. The other circumstance in which you can pay for Part A is if you have a disability and you receive Social Security benefits. However, in this case, you must have worked and paid Medicare tax, since, to qualify for disability benefits, you must also have paid Social Security tax.

    Other Medicare Coverage

    • It is not a requirement, but with Part A and Part B, you can purchase all Medicare coverage available, including Part C and Part D. You can join a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C), since the requirements include having Medicare Part A and Part B, plus paying the monthly premiums. You can also join a Part D plan because one of the requirements is to have either Part A or Part B.

    Medicare Part A Enrollment

    • If you qualify for purchasing Part A, you must enroll at age 65. This time is also called the initial enrollment period. This period starts three months before your birth month and ends three months afterwards. If you do not enroll during this period and you decide to enroll later (which is between January and the end of March every year), you might have to pay a 10 percent monthly premium penalty.

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