[NPInfo] info on Medicare/Medicaid/Medi-Cal etc upon being granted social security disability claim......

[Calif NP]

In the strictest sense, claimants who are approved for disability benefits
will receive medicare if the source of their benefits is title II (social
security) funding and medicaid if the source of their disability benefits is
title 16 (supplemental security income, or ssi).

Social security disability recipients are eligible to receive medicare
benefits two years after their date of entitlement. The date of entitlement
is essentially the EOD (established onset date), plus the five month waiting
period.

In other words, if a "social security disability" claimant is approved for
benefits and it is determined that their disability began on January 1,
1900, this would be their established date of onset. Their date of
entitlement would be this date plus the five month waiting period that is,
unfathomably, imposed on ssd claimants.

In this example, then, the date of entitlement would be June 1, 1900, and
the claimant would be eligible to receive medicare benefits two years from
this date.

The word "from", rather than "after" was chosen because, in many cases,
claimants are approved with onset dates that are established several years
back, meaning that it is possible for a claimant to have already served the
two year wait for medicare by the time they begin to draw their disability
benefits.

Those who are awarded supplemental security income, or ssi, will not receive
medicare, but rather medicaid, a needs-based, state and county administered
program which provides for a number of prescriptions and doctor visits each
month.

However, it should also be said that a considerable number of claimants will
be approved for concurrent benefits; that is, they will draw disability
money from both social security and ssi.

In such instances, the issue of whether a claimant will get medicare or
medicaid is not so cut and dry. Therefore, claimants who are approved for
concurrent disability benefits should consult their local social security
office regarding their medicare/medicaid eligibility.