Medicare for the Disabled

Really?  Medicare is available to certain disabled Americans?  Yes. Medicare is a Federal health insurance program that pays for hospital and medical care for elderly and certain disabled Americans.  A person who receives Social Security disability insurance benefits becomes eligible for Medicare coverage after he or she has received disability benefits for two years.  Medicare coverage is probably not available to persons receiving Supplemental Security Income only (SSI).  Those persons receiving SSI more likely qualify for Medicaid.

What about a person who was initially denied Social Security disability insurance benefits?  Can he or she still become eligible for Medicare?

Yes. If the disabled person was initially denied disability insurance benefits but, for example, later received a favorable decision from the Social Security Administration, then that person would get Medicare coverage two years from the date that he or she would have started receiving disability payments had he or she not been initially denied.
If a person has to wait until he or she gets a hearing and that hearing results in a favorable decision, Medicare coverage will kick in fairly soon after hearing since it is still taking more than two years to get through the Social Security Disability process from application to award in many areas of the country.