Health Affairs, doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.3.w175 (Published online March 25, 2008) © 2008 by Project HOPE	New Online Disparities in Health:   Obama aide on legislation   Smedley call to action   Shrink regulations first   A Real Policy Debate   Top 10 HA Articles Of '07

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Transitioning To Medicare Before Age Sixty-Five

¹ Pamela Short is a professor, Health Policy and Administration, at Penn State University in University Park.
² France Weaver is a researcher at the Swiss Health Observatory in Neuchatel, Switzerland.

^*Corresponding author.

Abstract

Disabled workers who start receiving Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) must wait twenty-four months to qualify for Medicare. Legislation introduced in Congress would eliminate this waiting period, to guarantee that people with disabilities severe enough to qualify for SSDI will not be uninsured. We provide a longitudinal view of Medicare enrollment before age sixty-five by following a national sample of people ages 55-64. One person in six was covered by Medicare before turning sixty-five. A quarter of new enrollees were uninsured during the waiting period. There were great disparities in reliance on Medicare and coverage in the waiting period. [Health Affairs 27, no. 3 (2008): w175-w184 (published online 25 March 2008; 10.1377/hlthaff.27.3.w175)]

Key Words: Access To Care, Chronic Care, Consumer Issues, Demography, Health Reform, Insurance Coverage, Legal/Regulatory Issues, Managed Care - Medicare, Medicare, Insurance Market

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