Medicare for disabled adult child - waiting 2 years after starting my Social Security retirement?

The SSA rep is confusing two different rules. For a disabled adult child (what SSA calls a Disabled Adult Child or DAC), they can receive BENEFITS on your record when you start collecting retirement, but Medicare eligibility works differently. Your son would need to be approved for DAC benefits first, and then there's typically a 24-month waiting period from his first disability benefit payment before Medicare begins - it's not tied to how long YOU'VE been collecting. Has your son been approved for DAC benefits yet?

I went through this exact thing with my daughter!!!! The SS office told me WRONG information THREE TIMES!! They kept saying different things each time I called. Your son needs to apply for DAC (Disabled Adult Child) benefits first, then after he's approved there's a 24 month waiting period for Medicare. BUT the 24 months starts from when he's eligible for DAC, not necessarily from when he applies!!! So get him applied ASAP!!

To clarify the process: Your adult disabled son needs to file for Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB, also called Disabled Adult Child benefits) on your record. There's Form SSA-4-BK for this. Once approved, there's a 24-month waiting period before Medicare starts. The wait begins from his entitlement date, not your retirement date. Also important: your son must have become disabled before age 22 to qualify. If you haven't filed for the CDB yet, that's step one.

I had to call SSA about 15 times before I finally got someone who knew what they were talking about with my disabled daughter's Medicare. The phone lines are absolutely terrible - I'd wait 2+ hours just to get disconnected. Finally I tried this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes instead of hours. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU that shows how it works. Saved me so much frustration when dealing with the DAC application process. Might be worth checking out since you'll probably need to call SSA multiple times to get this sorted.

my cousin had to do this for her son and the wait sucks but nothin u can do about it. make sure u have ALL his medical records going back to when he was 19 showing the disability. SS is super picky about proof! good luck

There are some exceptions to the 24-month Medicare waiting period though! If your son has End-Stage Renal Disease or ALS, the waiting period is waived. Also, if he was previously entitled to benefits that were terminated, and he becomes entitled again within 5 years, any previous months of entitlement count toward the 24 months.

ALSO!!! I forgot to mention - while you're waiting for Medicare to kick in, check if your state has a Medicaid program for disabled adults! My daughter qualified for Medicaid during the Medicare waiting period and it helped SOOO much with her medical bills!!!

One more thing to consider: Once your son is approved for DAC benefits, he might be eligible for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) during the Medicare waiting period if his income and resources are low enough. SSI recipients automatically qualify for Medicaid in most states, which could help with healthcare costs while waiting for Medicare. You should specifically ask about this when you call SSA about the DAC application.