For those of you who have been approved for SSDI after an appeal (where SSA determines you to have been disabled as of a date up to several years in the past)

a) when did you start being eligible for Medicare -- was it 29 months after the date the ALJ determined you to have been disabled(January 2005, for example), or was it 29 months after the date that the ALJ's favorable decision was officially made (example: February 2008)?

b) once eligible for Medicare, how much time did you have to choose coverage options and Medicare insurance companies (part B, Medigap, etc.) after you became eligible?

I'm concerned about how soon I will have to deal with what looks like a confusing mess, at least judging from the Medicare literature I've looked at so far. Also, it at least appears to me like coverage under Medicare is worse than the PPO health insurance I still have from my employer under COBRA (and maybe not that much cheaper).

Thanks,

ThreeForOne