Yes. Once you have Medicare Parts A and B through Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare Advantage is open to you in South Carolina on the same terms as it is to someone who turned 65.

Why this route gets more attention in South Carolina

Under Original Medicare alone you pay roughly 20% of each Part B service with no annual cap. Medicare Advantage plans are required to set a yearly maximum out-of-pocket for in-network care. That ceiling is the main reason people under 65 look closely at these plans.

In South Carolina that argument lands harder than it does next door. Federal law does not require insurers to sell a Medicare Supplement to people under 65, and South Carolina law does not require it either — access runs through the state pool. North Carolina guarantees Plan A plus D or G, and Tennessee requires the same plans sold at 65 to be offered under 65. So for a South Carolina resident under 65, the Advantage out-of-pocket maximum is often the more available way to cap spending.

That is an explanation, not a recommendation. Neither path is automatically right.

What to verify before you enrol

Medicare Advantage plans are generally built around a network, so the first question is always whether the doctors you intend to keep participate. That is checked one name at a time — not assumed from the hospital system, and not assumed from last year. The same applies to your prescriptions: bring the actual list with doses.

If you also have Medicaid, South Carolina has four Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans, a type of Medicare Advantage plan built for people with both. See dual eligible in South Carolina.

When you can enrol

You get an enrolment window when your Medicare first starts. After that, the Annual Enrollment Period runs each autumn, and there is a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period in the new year for people already in a plan. Certain life events open a Special Enrollment Period of their own.

And at 65

Turning 65 gives you a fresh start, including a full Medigap Open Enrollment Period — the six months starting the first month you are 65 and enrolled in Part B. Whatever you choose now in South Carolina, 65 is a natural point to re-shop. See Medicare before 65 on disability in South Carolina.