Medicare and Social Security FAQs

Many people assume this is true, but you actually earn eligibility when you pay self-employment or payroll taxes.

You can accrue a maximum of four credits each year, and the income requirements are modest. Once you have at least 40 credits, you will qualify for these programs when you reach the respective eligibility ages.

You can qualify for these programs on your spouse’s work record. When it comes to Social Security, if you are entitled to a benefit but it is less than half of your spouse’s benefit, you would receive an amount that is equal to one half of your spouse’s benefit.

The answer to this simple question is a bit complicated. You can qualify for a reduced benefit when you are as young as 62. The reduction would be between 25 percent and 30 percent of the benefit that you would receive if you wait until you are eligible for a full benefit.

When it comes to the full benefit, your eligibility age depends on the year of your birth. For people born between 1943 and 1954, it is 66, and it then goes up by two months per year.

To be clear, this means that someone that was born in 1955 would become eligible two months after their 66^th birthday, and it would be 66 years and four months for someone that was born in 1956.

This arrangement ends in 1960 at the age of 67. People that were born during this year or any later year become eligible when they are 67 years of age.

It is possible to delay the submission of your application beyond your full eligibility age, and if you do this, you earn delayed retirement credits. They increase the amount of your benefit by eight percent for every year that you delay, but the accrual maxes out when you are 70.

Your benefit is based on the 35 years during which you paid taxes on the most amount of income.

No, the answer to this question is much simpler. Under currently existing laws, all eligible individuals can enroll in the Medicare program and they are 65 years of age.

What are the out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare?

The program is broken up into four distinct parts that are designated by the first four letters of the alphabet.

Part A is the hospitalization portion, and Part B covers treatments that are provided by doctors and other health care professionals. Part C gives you the ability to use your benefit to purchase private insurance that bundles the respective parts, and Part D is the prescription drug component.

There is no monthly premium for Part A, but there is a deductible per benefit period, and there are co-payments for hospital stays that exceed 60 days in duration.

You have to pay a monthly premium for Part B, and you are responsible for 20 percent of covered expenses out of your own pocket. There is also a modest deductible for Part B.

The premiums, co-payments, and deductibles vary for Part C and Part D, because there are many different options available.

The answer is no, and this is a very big deal, because nursing home care is extremely expensive. Medicaid does pay for the custodial care that these facilities provide, but you cannot qualify if you have significant assets in your own name.

It is possible to fund the trust to develop a financial profile that leads to eligibility, and elder law attorneys help people develop effective nursing home asset protection strategies.