topic Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now in Social Security

If my wife applies for Social Security now

EricW236758 — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 20:49:52 GMT

My 62 year old wife is being treated for stage three breast cancer, and she is currently receiving care via Medicaid. She does not have any income of her own, she is not now receiving any Social Security benefits, and as of the moment, our only source of money are my Social Security Disability Benefits, which are around $2,000 a month. Also, I'm 64 years old.

We are wondering if my wife can apply for Social Security early due to her cancer diagnosis, and due to the fact that she is unable to work. Also, if she begins receiving Social Security in the near future, how would that effect her Medicaid benefits, and is there a chance that her medical benefits could be interrupted or stopped during her cancer treatment.

We are in a very very tight place financially, but I'm afraid to make any moves which might jeopardize her medical care. Also, I have tried reaching out to several non profits who provide cancer support, but so far the only thing I've gotten back are AI generated emails. Any info greatly appreciated.

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

GailL1 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:03:20 GMT

Sorry you and your wife are going thru such a hard time.

Now to answer your questions.

SSA.gov-Who Can Get Family Benefits

Yes, from what you have said about her situations and yours, at 62 she would be eligible for early retirement from her own benefits as well as her Spousal benefits since you are receiving SSDI. She would get the amount that is the higher of the two benefits and SSA would evaluate that when she files.

However since she is filing at an earlier age than her full retirement age, the benefit will be somewhat reduced.

SSA.gov-Starting Your Retirement Benefits Early

If she has any minor children for whom she cares for, she may also be entitled to an auxilliary benefit amount called a “child in care.

IF she has very little to NO work history of her own then the Spousal benefit will be her only benefit and it is gonna be based on (at the most) 50% of your benefit which is your PIA for SSDI LESS the reduction factor for taking it early - so a rough guess would be that she would be gettin between 30% - 35% of your benefit; so not much but I know every little bit counts.

MEDICAID is a state program and there are several different types under the state’s umbrella of Medicaid. Is it a MAGI MEDICAID which she gets thru the ACA or the Marketplace because of the family having a low income? Or is it some other type ? Various states have an array of different programs and knowing which one she is on would help to determine the eligibility level and if the Spousal benefit would push the income over the limits of eligibility.

ALL types of MEDICAID eligibility has to do with having low income but the types vary for counting certain assets and resources and how they work. There are even some ways that the income can have a spend down amount that would help to create eligibility, if available to her in the state where you live.

Yes, your wife getting some sort of Social Security benefit would count as income against Medicaid but how this would affect her and her coverage needs to be defined by the state where she is getting her Medicaid benefit.

MEDICAID.gov-EligibilityPolicy

There is even a Medicaid State program for Individuals Needing Treatment for Breast or Cervical Cancer.

KFF.org - State Eligibility for Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP) Timeframe: As of July 1, 2021

from the link [ copy/paste[

The Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP) is an optional program for states to extend Medicaid coverage to uninsured persons who are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer. While this program is a state option, all states participate. States can choose to extend Medicaid eligibility to persons screened or diagnosed with funding from the CDC’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) or, more broadly, persons screened under the NBCCEDP program, regardless of the funding source or diagnosis site.

She will need to discuss her Medicaid coverage with the state’s office of Medicaid or if she has a caseworker, speak to that individual.

Thinking about you and your wife during these hard times. Hope this helps a bit.

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

EricW236758 — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:02:56 GMT

Thank you, Gail. Your answers are always very helpful.

I've taken a look through my wife's Medicaid documents, but I'm unable to determine which type of Medicaid she actually has, and the people at the county level are not so good at returning calls. Could you possibly give me an idea of what sort of verbiage/buzzwords I should be looking for in order to identify the type of Medicaid she might have? I hate to admit it, but I have no idea what I'm looking at, and this is a little bit over my head.

We are currently living in Onslow County in North Carolina, and it looks like we will probably spend the rest of our years here. I would like to be able to sit down and speak with an advocate face to face, but there doesn't seem to be anyone like that in my area. I tried talking to a someone at the local community center, but every time I asked something, the person on the other side of the desk would simply type my question into Google, and read back whatever the search result said.

At any rate, it appears that her Medicaid might be in jeopardy, and the first thing I need to do is to determine which type of Medicaid she actually has, is that correct?

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

SereneSeagull — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:52:13 GMT

@EricW236758 , I agree with you on how helpful her answers are, as are the others who jump into this particular topic with incredibly helpful information. I find myself hoping they jump into them, and they always do. So glad there are those who can do that. 👍

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

EricW236758 — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 20:59:53 GMT

I'm just not sure what I need to do next? I think that I need to determine what type of Medicaid my wife now has (can't find any info in her documents) and then once I know what type of Medicaid she has, then I should be able to determine what will happen to her medical care if she applies for Social Security. Does that sound right to you?

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

GailL1 — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 22:48:13 GMT

@EricW236758

She hasn’t been declared disabled by the SSA and she isn’t old enought to qualify for the ABD Medicaid - aged (65 and over), blind and disabled.

So it can only be a few other types - she has MAGI Medicaid where only her low income would be the qualifier. She would have been given this Medicaid by N.C. when she signed up for health insurance thru the ACA marketplace. Her income would have disquaified her from an actual insurance coverage (subsidized) so she would have gotten Medicaid.

How did she sign up for this Medicaid?

Did she sign up for Medicaid based on her income (your the family income) thru the NC ACA Marketplace?

Here are the others in NC -does she have a managed care Medicaid plan?

N.C.Medicaid Managed Care types

Does she have a Medicaid card ? what does it say on it?

Figure out the program that she is on and the eligibility and then you can see how much more she can add to her income and still keep it.

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

EricW236758 — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 01:37:39 GMT

Yes, she has a Medicaid Card, but I don't see anywhere on her card where it states the type of Medicaid she has. Sorry to be so dense, but a lot of this is somewhat new to me. As I recall, a social worker from our county helped my wife sign up for Medicaid. I don't know if her type of Medicaid is considered to be a managed plan, but Well Care seems to be handling the expenses on behalf of Medicaid. Hope this information helps a bit, and I really appreciate your attempts to explain things to me.

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

EricW236758 — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:12:53 GMT

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty certain that the county social worker mentioned MAGI Medicaid to me during her application process. However I cannot seem to find that info in her packet, and the people at the county dept. of social services don't answer the phone or return messages. I've tried calling the state health and human services, which oversees Medicaid, but they also have not returned my calls. I'm at a loss of what to do.

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

GailL1 — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:10:30 GMT

@EricW236758

Answering both of these post 4/21 and 4/22 at the same time -

Sounds like a Medicaid Managed Care plan - You can always contact that (or a) social worker ti verify her plan,

Effective April 1, 2026, Wellcare merged with Carolina Complete Health to form a new Medicaid Managed Care group in North Carolina called Carolina Complete Health.

Did she get any info on this?

NC DHHS Medicaid.gov - WellCare of North Carolina and Carolina Complete Health to Merge April 1, 2026

Here is the Medicaid Eligibility criteria for the State of NC including the income levels - I assume it is just you and your wife so you would look at the income level for 2 -

NC MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY

So for a family of (2) the income eligiblity is for An adult ages 19 through 64 may be eligible if the family income is $2,399/month or less.

BUT she may also be in this other group - (shown on the lin)

People with certain health needs may be able to get special coverage. These include, but are not limited to:

Physical or cognitive disabilities
Traumatic brain injury
Breast or cervical cancer

The income levels appear to be the same for either of these.

All dollar amounts are before taxes. Numbers are current until April 1, 2026 per the NC online site.

This is the NC government office that you should contact to get the details on your wife’s Medicaid managed care plan although seems to me that most plan cards would have a contact on the back of the card along with a managed care plan name. (Dept of Social Services)

NC Local DSS Directory

Now IF her Medicaid is thru the Marketplace as for (MAGI) Medicaid, your family income eligibility would be 138% of the Federal Poverty level.

Target Group: Adults aged 19-64 not Medicare-eligible, based on NC Medicaid expansion guidelines.
Income Limit (Family of 2): Approximately $29,187 annually or $2,432 monthly (based on projected 138% FPL).
MAGI Calculation: Includes Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) + non-taxable Social Security, tax-exempt interest, and foreign income.

So there is not that much difference in the income levels of eligiblity -

$ 2399 per month on low income or health needs Medicaid
compared to $ 2432 for MAGI Medicaid.
The “resources” may make a difference if you have any other resources than a home and a car for regular Medicaid, - assets like bank accounts do count here
Nothing else counts other than income on MAGI Medicaid.

Now the differences in the eligibiliy income isn’t that great but it seems that depending on your SSDI exact amount before any deductions - your wife’s Spousal benefits( OR her own benefit if it is a higher amount) with the deductions for taking it early added to that your SSDI income is gonna be kind of close but I don’t have the actual numbers.

Has your wife ever worked and paid into the SS system? IOW, will she have benefits of her own that the SSA will need to determine compared to her spousal benefits?

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

EricW236758 — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 01:33:30 GMT

Hello Gail,

Yesterday I had to call the Social Security Administration to take care of something else, and during the conversation I asked the rep about what would happen if my wife were to apply for benefits. He said that my could apply for retirement at 64, but she hasn't earned enough credits to qualify for Social Security Disability, so apparently that isn't an option for her at this point. So, apparently if she gets approved for retirement benefits at 64, then she should automatically be transferred from Medicaid to Medicare without too much of a problem.

Also, the rep gave me a telephone number to a state agency known as the Seniorsʼ Health Insurance Information Program, within the NC Dept. of Insurance. I talked it over with my wife, and we both think that is best to wait for her doctor to declare her to be cancer free, and then after that I will contact the above agency and see what they have to say about my wife's benefits, should she apply for retirement at 64. Just in case you're interested, the number I received from the rep is, 1-855-408-1212, just in case someone else living in North Carolina should ask a similar question.

Additionally, I apologize for not always being able to provide answers when you're trying to help me. I do have a little bit of a cognitive impairment, and for some reason when I come to the AARP website, I feel like my eyes keep going round and round, and I seem to have trouble taking in what I'm reading on the screen. I guess that I need to have less of bird brain inside my skull, and to not be so easily overwhelmed.

Also, thanks once again for your help.

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

GailL1 — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 01:59:46 GMT

Your wife has a better option if her own SSA benefits are low - she can file for her SPOUSAL BENEFITS off your SSDI benefits - remember I said this in my post to you on 04/19 -

“, from what you have said about her situations and yours, at 62 she would be eligible for early retirement from her own benefits as well as her Spousal benefits since you are receiving SSDI. She would get the amount that is the higher of the two benefits and SSA would evaluate that when she files.”

Both of these would be reduced if she filed for them earlier than her FRA. Spousal benefits would be 50% of your SSDI benefits less a % reduction for filing for them before her FRA - so she may get say 30% of your benefits (that’s a guess) if she filed for them now.

Yes, she can also get Medicare benefits off your record too - but at 65 years old.

I understand cognitive impairment - I have debilitating headaches and have had one for the last several days that just won’t let go - so I am very impaired at the moment.

Good Luck to you and the Mrs.

Re: If my wife applies for Social Security now

EricW236758 — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:00:13 GMT

Thank you very much Gail. I will look into the spousal benefits option this week. Thanks again. Hope you feel better.