Medicare Eligibility Requirements

You are eligible to enroll in Hospital Insurance – Medicare Part A if:

You are age 65 or older and:

• You receive or are eligible to receive Social Security benefits; or
• You receive or are eligible to receive railroad retirement benefits; or
• Your spouse receives or is eligible to receive Social Security or railroad retirement benefits; or
• You or your spouse (living or deceased, including divorced spouses) worked long enough in a government job where Medicare taxes were paid; or
• You are the dependent parent of a fully insured deceased child.

You are under age 65 and:

• You have been entitled to Social Security disability benefits for 24 consecutive months; or
• You receive a disability pension from the railroad retirement board and meet certain conditions;  or
• You receive Social Security disability benefits because you have Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis); or
• You worked long enough in a government job where Medicare taxes were paid and you have been entitled to Social Security disability benefits for 24 months; or
• You are the child or widow(er) age 50 or older, including a divorced widow(er), of someone who has worked long enough in a government job where Medicare taxes were paid and you meet the requirements of the Social Security disability program; or
• You have permanent kidney failure (End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and you receive maintenance dialysis or a kidney transplant or ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease) and:
  • You are eligible for or receive monthly benefits under Social Security or the railroad retirement system; or
  • You have worked long enough in a Medicare-covered government job; or
  • You are the child or spouse (including a divorced spouse) of a worker (living or deceased) who has worked long enough under Social Security or in a Medicare-covered government job.