ALS NEWS
SSDI Recipients With ALS No Longer Have Wait for Medicare
02/09/01
A change in federal law effective this summer should provide quicker access to essential medical equipment and services for people with ALS who receive Social Security Disability Insurance income. Starting July 1, people with ALS who get SSDI also will be eligible to obtain Medicare benefits when they begin receiving SSDI checks.
Under the current law, those who qualify for SSDI must wait two years before being enrolled in Medicare. The new law, passed by Congress in December, exempts people with ALS because of the rapid decline in health most experience after diagnosis. The disease's quick progression creates a need for extensive medical care and equipment before the two-year waiting period is up.
As of July 1, everyone with ALS who receives SSDI will be eligible for Medicare, including those now in the two-year interim. Medicare cards will be mailed later in July.
"Beneficiaries whose date of eligibility for Medicare is Aug. 1, 2001, or later under the 24-month rule will automatically be eligible for Medicare effective July 1, 2001. It should be seamless," says a spokesperson for the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which administers Medicare. "When you are disabled with ALS, you will become eligible for Medicare."
She adds, "The Social Security Administration will notify each beneficiary of their date of eligibility for Medicare, and the Health Care Financing Administration will issue a Medicare card and the handbook 'Medicare and You 2001.'"
People who apply for SSDI still have a wait of about five or six months for eligibility.
For further information call the Social Security Administration at (800) 772-1213 or visit the Web site, www.medicare.gov.
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