Medicare eligibility leaves out disabled railroad annuitants under 65 (42 U.S.C. 426(b)(2)(B)) #10804

is_medicare_eligible returns true at age 65, or once a person has received Social Security disability benefits for 24 months. Its documentation says the model covers only those two routes.

Under 42 U.S.C. 426(b)(2)(B), a person under 65 also gets Medicare Part A who "is, and has been for not less than 24 months, a disabled qualified railroad retirement beneficiary, within the meaning of section 231f(d) of title 45".

The model has no input for that route. railroad_benefits holds retirement, disability, spouse and survivor annuities in one amount, and #10696 splits it by tax treatment, not by kind of annuity. So the model gives a disabled railroad annuitant under 65 no Medicare eligibility. The Part A and Part B premium variables, medicare_enrolled and the Medicare Savings Program tests carry defined_for = "is_medicare_eligible" or read it, and the Medicaid adult and work requirement tests treat the person as someone without Medicare.

State programs read the test too: Illinois SMIB and the CTA and RTA reduced fare, the MBTA's TAP CharlieCard, Mississippi's Healthier Mississippi Waiver and Dallas DART. Energy aid income in 28 states reads medicare_part_b_premium. FEDERAL_GAPS in #10764's test_state_benefit_railroad_income.py lists the eight sources state code reads.

To fix it, add an input for a railroad disability annuity and its months of entitlement, and count 24 months of it in is_medicare_eligible. The same input lets is_usda_disabled count the annuitants SNAP agencies treat as disabled under 7 U.S.C. 2012(j)(7), a gap #9330 records.

Source: 42 U.S.C. 426(b)