Medicare eligibility?

[waitlisted]

Does someone know how the Medicare A works for ESRD patients?

From Medicare.gov FAQ I found following:

Medicare Premiums for 2007:

Part A: (Hospital Insurance) Premium
Most people do not pay a monthly Part A premium because they or a spouse has 40 or more quarters of Medicare-covered employment.
The Part A premium is $226.00 for people having 30-39 quarters of Medicare-covered employment.
The Part A premium is $410.00 per month for people who are not otherwise eligible for premium-free hospital insurance and have less than 30 quarters of Medicare-covered employment.

Based on this I would need to pay $410.00 per month for Medicare A, as I have not worked yet 10 years in US paying medicare. Paying that amount per month would not make any sense for me and if that is the case I will just use my employer health insurance and pay my deductable up to out of pocket max per year.

I was asking this from my social worker as well, but she did not have any experience on people on similar situation as me, i.e. not working long enough under medicare or having spouse or parent who has worked long enough under medicare. However she was still expecting me to get Medicare A without premium, but she said we will finally find it out when I apply Medicare after the transplant.

If anyone knows more about this issue, please let me know.

[thegrammalady]

call medicare and talk to somebody. most of us have part a, b and d. a pays hospital coverage, b pays outpatient (dialysis) and d is drug coverage. don't leave it up to the social worker.

[rimbo74]

I got Medicare Part A (hospital only) back in January.  When you are ESRD, Part A is free.  After my transplant I enrolled in Medicare Part B (pays copay for antirejection medicine) which will cost me about $97 a month.  I have primary insurance through my work so it may be different for you.  But this is what I have experienced.

After your transplant, be sure to talk to the social worker at DTI, her name is Mary Beth.  She is awesome to work with and she will take care of everything for you and even answer your questions.  You might want to just call her at DTI.

[George Jung]

There is a premium but whatever it is you can apply for help from the NKF and they will help pick it up.  I doubt you will be responsible for $410, at least i hope the hell not.