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When Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) converts to retirement benefits at full retirement age, your Medicare enrollment and coverage continue without interruption. You keep the same Medicare card and number.
This article explains what changes and what stays the same during this conversion. It also discusses what happens if you’ve been receiving other benefits.
SSDI provides monthly payments when a condition prevents you from working or drastically limits your ability to work for at least 12 months or is expected to result in death. To qualify, you must have enough work credits and recent work credits from paying Social Security taxes.
When you get SSDI and reach full retirement age, the Social Security Administration (SSA) automatically converts your SSDI benefits to Social Security retirement benefits. Your gross monthly benefit stays the same until the next cost-of-living adjustment. Social Security records and notices start calling the payment a retirement benefit rather than a disability benefit.
This SSDI-to-retirement conversion doesn’t change your existing Medicare coverage. Your Medicare Part B premium payment or deduction also stays the same.
Age 65 and full retirement age are different milestones. If you’ve been a legal resident of the U.S. or a U.S. territory for at least five years, your Medicare eligibility begins at age 65.
When you get SSDI, your Medicare eligibility begins after 24 months of entitlement or at age 65, whichever comes first. The 24-month Medicare waiting period is waived in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cases and reduced in end-stage renal disease cases. You may have Medicare for years before your SSDI converts to retirement benefits.
Your Social Security full retirement age is between 66 and 67, depending on your birth year. Your retirement age is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later.
You get an SSA notice about the benefit change two to three months before you reach Social Security full retirement age.
Your existing Medicare coverage continues to include:
The SSDI-to-retirement conversion changes how the SSA classifies and manages your Social Security benefit but not how you receive Medicare, your monthly payment, or when you get paid.
This table provides a look at what changes and what doesn’t.
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Get EvaluationTo get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you must have limited income and resources and either have a qualifying disability or be age 65 or older. It’s not based on your work record.
If you receive both SSDI and SSI, only the SSDI payment converts to retirement benefits. SSI benefits continue.
SSDI benefits count as income in your financial assessment. Since your retirement payment is the same as your previous SSDI payment, you still qualify for SSI unless something else changed.
If you only receive SSI, the SSA requires that you apply for retirement benefits when you’re eligible. You may qualify for Social Security retirement benefits even if you were denied for SSDI because the recent-work rule used for SSDI and disability rules no longer apply. You still need 40 work credits on your record to get Social Security retirement though.
You may also qualify for retirement benefits on a spouse’s or former spouse’s work record if you don’t have enough credits on your own record. You can get survivor benefits if your spouse had 40 work credits and died. You can check your estimated retirement benefit through your online Social Security account or by talking to the SSA.
As long as your income and resources are still within the limits, you continue to get SSI payments.
Workers’ compensation and other public disability benefits reduce SSDI payments because of offset rules. You’re only allowed to get 80% of your average pre-disability earnings from combined benefits when you’re on SSDI.
When you reach full retirement age, offsets no longer apply. How much your retirement payment will be after the conversion from SSDI depends on your individual record.
Contact the SSA if you are near full retirement age and don’t get a notice or if your notice has an incorrect gross benefit amount, incorrect personal information, or Medicare Part B premium deductions that don’t match your existing arrangement. You can also ask the SSA about SSI eligibility with retirement benefits.
Contact Medicare or your private plan if records show that your existing coverage is inactive or incorrect. Contact the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for free Medicare counseling if you are interested in changing your coverage during the next open enrollment period. The SSDI to retirement benefits transition doesn’t create an open enrollment period.
If you are researching and not yet approved for SSDI or SSI, Advocate can help.
Our disability specialists can check your eligibility, help you apply, or help you appeal a denial. We can also help you prepare for a hearing with an administrative law judge and represent you in court.
The disability benefits process is a lot, especially if you are struggling with a physical or mental condition.
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Get EvaluationNo. Your Medicare card and number stay the same when SSDI becomes retirement benefits. Request a replacement only if your card is lost, damaged, or incorrect.
Your Medicare Advantage or Part D coverage continues as it was. You can only change coverage during an available Medicare enrollment period.
Your SSDI converts to retirement benefits at full retirement age, but SSI is separate. Your Medicare coverage continues.
Your full retirement age is 66 and some months or 67 depending on your birth year. Use this SSA chart to see when yours.
It may be faster to get early retirement, but you will have a reduced payment for life. This article can help you decide if early retirement or SSDI is a better option in your situation.
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