My wife is 60 years old, and she is currently receiving Social Security disability benefits including Medicare. When she reaches 65 years old, does she (1) lose her SSDI, and (2) need to apply for regular Medicare? Thank you.

Hi,

No. Unless your wife's Social Security disability (SSDI) benefit entitlement is terminated due to medical improvement, her Medicare coverage will continue until age 65 based on her SSDI entitlement. At age 65, she would be eligible for Medicare even if she no longer qualifies for SSDI, but in that case she would need to apply for Medicare unless she's already drawing reduced Social Security retirement benefits.

As long as your wife continues to qualify for SSDI until she reaches full retirement age (FRA), which would be 66 & 10 months if she was born in 1959, her SSDI benefits will then be automatically converted to unreduced Social Security retirement benefits at the same benefit rate. If that's the case, her Medicare will continue uninterrupted and she won't need to reapply for Medicare.

Best, Jerry