Obtaining Medicare Health Coverage for a Disabled Young Adult Currently Receiving SSI Benefits

SSI at Age 18 — Most disabled young adults obtain SSI Benefits (Supplemental Security Income) at the age of 18 if they are disabled and have less than $2,000 in their own name. The SSI Benefits are for those persons who have not paid into the Social Security system and obtain enough credits to be classified as a disabled worker. For those persons who have earned enough Social Security credits, than they will receive SSDI Benefits (Social Security Disability Insurance).

Benefits of Obtaining SSDI — When a person obtains SSDI, they will also receive Medicare health coverage 24 months thereafter. In other words, after a person is collecting SSDI for two years, then they will receive Medicare health coverage.

How a Disabled Young Adult can Qualify for SSDI — A disabled young adult can qualify for SSDI if they became disabled before age 24 and earned six Social Security work credits. A worker can earn up to a maximum of four Social Security credits per year. In the year 2019 the disabled person must earn $1,360 to get one Social Security or Medicare work credit and $5,440 to get the maximum four credits for the year. If, for example, the disabled person earned $3,000 in 2019, then they would have earned two credits for the year. If the disabled worker has not obtained the six Social Security credits by age 24, then he or she will need to obtain more than those six credits depending upon their post 24 age. (Not every kind of work counts towards Social Security credits as, for example, children younger than age 21 who do household chores for a parent (except a child age 18 or older who works in the parent's business).

If a parent of a disabled person has paid into Social Security and then the parent either becomes disabled or retires or dies, then their disabled son or daughter will receive SSDI benefits and the disabled person will receive Medicare Health Coverage 24 months thereafter.