There is a five month waiting period for social security disability insurance (SSDI) benefits. This means that you are not paid your first SSDI payment until five months have expired from the onset of your disability.
There is also a two year/twenty-four month waiting period for Medicare eligibility. This period also runs from your onset date.
The purpose of these waiting periods is to be certain that claimants have impairments that are long-term before they begin receiving benefits. The waiting period for Medicare is also related to limiting costs when claimants might have access to other forms of insurance coverage.
The movement to eliminate these waiting periods is currently stalled in Congress. We will continue to monitor these issues.