Larry,
I am 62 and 1/2 can go out on early SSI or potentially SDI because of medical.
The issue is health insurance, how long does one have to wait before being medicare?
As the issue is more about healthcare as I had Bi pass surgery years back and am uninsureable
in the real world.

So the question becomes do I wait for SDI or file SSI and get on medicare right away.

Thanks,

Joe

Hi Joe. When you refer to 'early SSI', I assume you mean reduced Social Security retirement benefits. Drawing early retirement benefits wouldn't make you eligible for Medicare any earlier than the normal age of 65. But, if you qualify for Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits you can get Medicare coverage starting with the earlier of a) age 65 or b) your 25th month of entitlement to SSDI benefits. However, there's a 5 full month waiting period from the date of your disability onset until the first month of your entitlement to SSDI benefits, so it can take roughly 2 1/2 years from the time you stop working and are declared disabled until you finally qualify for Medicare.

Therefore, if you're already age 62 1/2 you may not qualify for Medicare much before age 65 whether you qualify for SSDI benefits or not. It is possible to become entitled to SSDI up to 12 months retroactively from the month in which you apply, but you could only qualify for retroactive SSDI entitlement if you were disabled during that time and if you weren't working and earning more than the amount that Social Security considers to be substantial gainful activity (SGA). The amount of earnings that Social Security considers to be SGA for non-blind individuals in 2021 is anything above $1310 per month. Even if you were eligible for a full year of retroactive SSDI benefits, though, your Medicare coverage wouldn't start until at least a year after the month in which you apply for SSDI.

You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry