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 Eligibility Requirements for Early Medicare
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          Employee Disability Benefits
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          Eligibility Requirements for Early Medicare
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              General Information
          About Your Disability Annuity
          About Your Period of Disability ("Disability Freeze")
          Applying for Early Medicare Coverage
                                Types of Medicare Coverage
          Eligibility Requirements for Early Medicare
          When Your Early Medicare Can Begin
          When Your Early Medicare Could End
          Enrollment for Early Medicare
          Events That Can Affect Your Disability Benefits
          Glossary Eligibility Requirements for Early Medicare
							 
							
							
            RB-1D
      
            (3-09)
      
            **General**

To receive Medicare coverage before age 65, an age-and-service or disability annuitant must have a period of disability.

**Special Provision for Occupational Disability Annuitants**

If you receive an occupational disability annuity and could not meet the disability requirements for a period of disability when your annuity began, you may qualify for early Medicare coverage at a later date if:

your condition becomes more severe and you meet the period of disability requirement, or
	you did not meet the period of disability earnings requirement when you met the period of disability requirement, but you met the earnings requirement on the date your annuity began.**Special Provisions for Federal Employment after December 1982**

If you meet the disability requirement for a period of disability but cannot meet the earnings requirement because you did not have enough social security or railroad retirement work credits, Federal employment beginning January 1983 may be counted toward meeting the earnings requirement to establish entitlement to Medicare.
        ‹ Types of Medicare Coverage | 
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 Last updated: 09/22/2021