DISABILITY BENEFIT RECOVERY

Medicare and Medicaid are both health insurance plans provided to individuals who have met certain requirements for coverage.  Medicare is a federal health insurance program administered by the US Government, while Medicaid is a state health insurance program which may also receive some federal funding.  Medicare and Medicaid share some similar characteristics but have other characteristics that are very different. Medicare eligibility may be achieved in one of two ways:  By reaching January 1 of the year in which you will become 65 years of age; OR by receiving a Social Security disability award (SSDI) earlier than age 65.  Medicare coverage does not begin, however, until you have been eligible for a Social Security disability payment for 25 months.  Here is an example:  If Social Security finds you were disabled as of 1/1/13, you must wait 5 months from that date to receive your first payment because of a mandatory 5 month waiting period.  So your first payment would be for 5/1/13.

An approval letter from Social Security is not only relatively rare but it can be a very happy occasion--especially after months or years of financial hardship caused by a sudden disability and loss of income.  An approval letter will come from Social Security if your initial application has been approved, or more likely, if an administrative law judge has heard your appeal and granted a favorable decision.  The approval letter will state your "onset date," meaning the date you first became disabled.  The earlier the onset date, the more back pay you will receive. Within 60 days after receiving the approval letter, you will get a second letter that gives some more details about your benefits.  This second letter will tell you the amount of your monthly benefit check, the date you will receive your first payment, and the day of the month your monthly payments will arrive.  It will also state the amount of your past due benefits and the approximate date that they will be depo