US · guidance
CMS Pub. 100-01, ch. 2, § 10.2
Hospital Insurance for the Aged
To be eligible for HI on the basis of age, a person must be age 65 or older and either
eligible for monthly social security or railroad retirement cash benefits, or would be
eligible for such benefits if the worker's Government QCs were regular social security
QCs. An individual who is insured for monthly benefits need not actually file for
benefits to receive HI benefits. If such a person continues to work beyond age 65, he or
she may instead elect to file an application for HI only.
Premium-free HI for the aged begins with the month in which the individual attains age
65, provided he or she files an application for HI or for cash benefits and HI within 6
months of the month in which he or she attains age 65. If the application is filed later
than that, HI entitlement can be retroactive for only 6 months. An individual attains age
65 on the day before his or her 65th birthday. For example, if an individual is born on
August 1, the attainment date is July 31, and HI begins with July 1. Entitlement
generally does not end until death.
History
(Rev. 1, 09-11-02)
Provenance
- Source
- cms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-25
- Edition
- iom-2026-08-25
- Content hash
964adfe4da8fd62e379ae541a85585c9697a45e53f1528fa9a1c67580df6d372
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