Yes. Medicare is not only for people turning 65. If you receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare generally begins after a 24-month waiting period, and those months do not have to run consecutively.

The two exceptions to the wait

ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease): no five-month SSDI wait and no 24-month Medicare wait. Parts A and B are arranged for you when your disability benefits begin.

ESRD (kidney failure): follows its own timeline rather than the standard 24-month path.

Bridging the wait

The gap between stopping work and Medicare starting is where people get caught. COBRA's disability extension runs about 29 months. Since the SSDI wait plus 24 months works out to roughly the same, that extension can cover most or all of it. Map the dates before assuming you will be uncovered.

Why Tennessee is the strongest of the three states here

Federal law does not require insurers to sell a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) to people under 65 — each state decides. Tennessee has taken the broadest position of the three states The Jordan Insurance Agency serves:

  • Tennessee: any insurer that sells Medigap to people 65 and over must offer the same plans to people under 65 who have Medicare because of a disability or ESRD.
  • North Carolina: insurers must offer Plan A, plus Plan D or G if they sell those at 65.
  • South Carolina: no law requires private insurers to sell Medigap under 65 at all.

In practice that means a Tennessee resident under 65 has access to the same standardised plan letters as someone at 65, which is not true a short drive south. Medigap plans are standardised by letter, so the basic benefits for a given letter are the same from one insurer to the next; premiums, underwriting and service still differ.

Your realistic paths

Under 65 in Tennessee you can look at Original Medicare with a drug plan, Original Medicare with a Supplement, a Medicare Advantage plan, or — if you also have TennCare — one of the six Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans in Tennessee, all of which are fully integrated with TennCare. With Original Medicare alone you pay 20% of most Part B services with no annual cap, which is the main argument people weigh when they look at adding a Supplement.

Turning 65 still resets things

Your Medigap Open Enrollment Period is the six months starting the first month you are 65 and enrolled in Part B. Even in a state with broad under-65 access, 65 brings a fresh window and clears disability-era penalties, so it is a natural point to re-shop.

Alongside this, what Medicare costs under 65 in Tennessee puts numbers to it, Medicare Advantage under 65 here covers the alternative structure, and turning 65 on disability explains the window that resets everything.