42 U.S.C. § 426a — Transitional provision on eligibility of uninsured individuals for hospital insurance benefits

(a) Entitlement to benefits. A person qualifies under this section, and is treated solely for purposes of section 426 as entitled to monthly Social Security benefits, if they meet all five conditions: (1) they have turned 65; (2) either they turned 65 before 1968, or they have at least 3 "quarters of coverage" for each calendar year after 1966 and before the year they turned 65; (3) they are not already entitled to hospital insurance under section 426 (and would not become entitled just by applying), and they cannot be certified as a qualified railroad retirement beneficiary; (4) they live in the United States and are either a U.S. citizen or a lawfully admitted permanent resident who has lived in the United States continuously for the 5 years right before applying; and (5) they have filed an application in the manner the Secretary's regulations require. Coverage starts with the first month all these conditions are met and ends when the person dies, or earlier, the month before they become entitled to hospital insurance under section 426 through some other route or become certifiable as a qualified railroad retirement beneficiary. A person who would have qualified in an earlier month, but didn't apply in time, can still get credit for that month if they apply within 12 months after it. An application filed more than 3 months before someone actually meets conditions (1) through (4) is not accepted. (b) Persons ineligible. Subsection (a) does not apply to someone who: (1) belongs to certain organizations described in section 410(a)(17) at the start of the first qualifying month; (2) was, before that month, convicted of an offense listed in section 402(u); or (3) is covered — or was covered on February 16, 1965, or could have been covered — by a federal employee health benefits plan under chapter 89 of title 5. That third exclusion does not apply, though, starting with the month that federal health coverage ends (or would have ended) because the person or a related person left federal service, as long as they were not eligible to keep that coverage after leaving. (c) Authorization of appropriations. Congress may appropriate, each year, whatever amount the Secretary decides is needed to keep the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund whole, covering: payments made from the Trust Fund because of this section; the added administrative costs of running this section; and any interest the Trust Fund loses because of those payments — all so that the Trust Fund ends the year in the same financial position it would have been in without this section.