Health Care Available To Social Security Disability Claimants
When being awarded supplemental security income, persons will automatically receive Medicaid benefits due to meeting income and resources requirements. Medicaid can assist one in paying doctor and medical bills. The program in the United States is a jointly funded, Federal-State health insurance program for low-income and needy people. It currently covers about 36 million individuals including children, the elderly, blind, and disabled, and other people who are eligible to receive maintenance payments.
However, if receive the OK for Social Security Disability, you will receive Medicare two years after your date of eligibility. Medicare is a social insurance program that provides health insurance coverage to those meeting certain criteria. With Medicare, your financial standing does not matter. One can benefit from Medicare because it pays doctors at a higher rate than Medicaid and almost all physicians are happy to take Medicare patients. A downside is that Medicare generally does not pay for prescription medications.
If you are currently working and need Medicaid, visit your area’s Social Services office first to take a disability application for Medicaid. A representative will likely encourage you to file for supplemental security income disability at a local Social Security office. You could be eligible to also receive Social Security Disability benefits if you do not make enough money. Medicaid coverage can continue even if one’s earnings along with other income become too high for a Social Security Income cash payment.
To qualify for Medicaid, one must:
- Have been eligible for an SSI cash payment for at least a month
- Still be disabled
- Still meet all other eligibility rules, including the resources test
- Need Medicaid in order to work
- Have gross earned income that is insufficient to replace SSI, Medicaid, and any publicly funded attendant care
Remember that if approved, Social Security Disability may not be allowed to go to you for five months. If your Social Security disability cancels your Social Security Income eligibility, Social Services still may allow you to keep receiving Medicaid benefits as the department usually takes your bills and expenses into consideration before terminating Medicaid benefits.