Are You Eligible for Medicare? | Golden Years Design Benefits

Are You Eligible for Medicare?

Generally, you are eligible for Medicare if you or your spouse worked for at least 10 years in Medicare-covered employment, are 65 years old, and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.

If you are not 65, you might qualify for coverage if you have a disability or with End-Stage Renal disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplant).

Here are some simple guidelines. You can get Part A at age 65 without having to pay premiums if:

You already get retirement benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board.
You are eligible to get Social Security or Railroad benefits but have not yet filed for them.
You or your spouse had Medicare-covered government employment.

If you are under 65, you can get Part A without having to pay premiums if:

You have received Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board disability benefit for 24 months.
You are a kidney dialysis or kidney transplant patient.

While you don’t have to pay a premium for Part A if you meet one of those conditions, you must pay for Part B if you want it. It is deducted from your Social Security, Railroad Retirement, or Civil Service Retirement check. If you don’t get any of the above payments, Medicare sends you a bill for your Part B premium every 3 months.