Can I get Medicare before 65?
Last updated Jul 19, 2026
Reviewed by Jason Burns, Editorial Steward
Published by Senior Direct Answers · Licensed under Citation License 1.0
Yes, in three situations. If you receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare begins automatically after 24 months of benefit entitlement (coverage starts in the 25th month). People with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) can get Medicare at any age based on dialysis or a kidney transplant, and people with ALS get Medicare with no waiting period as soon as SSDI benefits begin (the separate 5-month SSDI waiting period for ALS was eliminated in December 2020). Medicare premiums, deductibles, and cost sharing change annually.
What the government has said, on the record
“Individuals must wait 24 months from their month of entitlement to Social Security disability benefits to become eligible for Medicare. ... Congress provided that there is no Medicare waiting period for individuals with end-stage renal disease or ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)”
— David A. Rust, Deputy Commissioner for Retirement and Disability Policy, Social Security Administration, Hearing before the Subcommittee on Social Security, House Committee on Ways and Means, 2008-01-16 (source)
Editor's note: Ellipsis spans three intervening sentences (reasons for the waiting period) within the same verified paragraph; quote is from 2008 and predates the 2020 elimination of the 5-month SSDI waiting period for ALS (the no-Medicare-waiting-period statement it makes remains accurate); no dollar figures.
Who said this
David A. Rust — Deputy Commissioner for Retirement and Disability Policy, Social Security Administration (current).
Also asked as
- Is it possible to get Medicare before 65?
- get Medicare before 65?
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18