If you are unable to work due to a medical condition, you may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits. There are two types of Social Security disability benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In this article, we examine your eligibility for Medicaid and Medicare if you receive SSDI or SSI.
Medicaid and Medicare
In most cases, if you receive SSDI, you will receive Medicare, and if you receive SSI, you will receive Medicaid. Medicaid is a health insurance program that is administered by the states for people who earn below a certain amount. One group that Medicaid covers are disabled individuals with low incomes. In Texas, all SSI recipients are automatically eligible for Medicaid.
When Does Medicare Coverage Start?
SSDI recipients cannot receive Medicare benefits until two years after their date of entitlement to SSDI. A recipient’s date of entitlement is the date his or her disability began, up to a year before his or her application date. However, since it often takes over a year to be approved for disability benefits, SSDI recipients don’t usually have to wait this long to receive Medicare. Specifically, SSDI recipients are often eligible for Medicare soon after the receipt of an award letter from Social Security. This is because, depending on how far back an SSDI recipient became disabled, he or she may have met a good portion of the waiting period by the time he or she receives Medicare approval. But since Social Security only allows a maximum of one year of retroactive benefits, plus the five-month waiting period for benefits, the earliest that an SSDI recipient can become eligible for Medicare is one year after applying for benefits.
When Does Medicaid Coverage Start?
Most states automatically grant Medicaid to SSI recipients. In fact, the majority of states let the Social Security Administration handle Medicaid enrollment for SSI recipients after they are approved for SSI. States that automatically grant Medicaid to SSI recipients typically provide SSI recipients with information about their Medicaid enrollment when they are approved for SSI. In Texas, there is no waiting period for Medicaid once a person is approved for SSI.
Contact Our El Paso SSDI and SSI Attorney
If you are unable to work and would like to apply for SSDI or SSI, you should contact a Texas SSDI and SSI attorney for assistance. When you hire attorney Jon Sipes to guide you through your Texas Social Security disability application, he will utilize his extensive SSDI and SSI experience to diligently pursue Social Security disability benefits on your behalf. Jon Snipes regularly helps people with disabilities obtain SSDI and SSI in Texas, and he knows what it takes to qualify under the SSDI and SSI programs. Please contact us today to schedule a free consultation.