General
To receive Medicare coverage before age 65, an age-and-service or disability annuitant must have a period of disability.
Special Provision for Occupational Disability Annuitants
If you receive an occupational disability annuity and could not meet the disability requirements for a period of disability when your annuity began, you may qualify for early Medicare coverage at a later date if:
- your condition becomes more severe and you meet the period of disability requirement, or
- you did not meet the period of disability earnings requirement when you met the period of disability requirement, but you met the earnings requirement on the date your annuity began.
Special Provisions for Federal Employment after December 1982
If you meet the disability requirement for a period of disability but cannot meet the earnings requirement because you did not have enough social security or railroad retirement work credits, Federal employment beginning January 1983 may be counted toward meeting the earnings requirement to establish entitlement to Medicare.