anjelmarie,
when i received my disability in 1996, the waiting period for medicare was one year. now it is two.

i go to a state psychiatric facility to see a pdoc and it is based on my income (they take my medicare). i only pay $8 a visit to see her, $0 for the nurse, and the required support group once a month is also free. however, they don't take medicare for in-patient.

about medications, if you have a Krogers in your area, there is a long list of medicines that are $4 a month (generic) and for three months at a time $10. Walmart also has a very long list of generic medicines that are also $4. some other grocery stores have meds for $3. none of these require insurance or a co-pay.

whe you get medicare, and plan to use the medicare part d prescription drug plan (of your choice) you have to pay around $40 a month just for the "privilege". this is only cost-effective if you are on a brand name drug that costs an arm and a leg (such as Seroquel--won't go generic until possibly 2013--as soon as it does, i will lose the part d plan and go to Krogers if they sell it there).

you can also try:
http://www.needymeds.org/drug_list.taf

(I have heard negative things about that one…I think you can’t have any other assistance with meds to qualify. But I think, not sure, you can also get medication assistance from DFCS--department of famly and children's services)

take care and good luck