Almost 1 in 10 people now on Medicare are younger than 65. They’re eligible because of a disability coverage that Congress added in 1972.
To receive Medicare early, you must be:
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Entitled to either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Railroad Retirement Board disability payments for at least 24 months beforehand, or
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Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — you get Medicare automatically when the Social Security Administration approves you for disability benefits — or
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Experiencing permanent kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease. That means you need regular dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive. Medicare coverage can start on the first day of the fourth month of dialysis treatments, sometimes earlier.
ALS and kidney-failure patients who get early Medicare have to have worked long enough and recently enough to qualify for SSDI. But they don’t have to wait 24 months for coverage.
If you’re on SSDI now, you don’t have to apply separately for Medicare. When the required time has passed, you will get your Medicare card in the mail.
