Also I don't think that you are likely to qualify for section 8 if you are getting SSDI (which is where you'd get Medicare; with SSI you get Medicaid). THey send out an annual notice of how much SSDI you've qualified for/if you have qualified for it to everyone who is working so you may have that somewhere; otherwise your SS office can tell you if you are eligible for SSDI or SSI. The difference is in amount of income and whether you get Medicare. SSDI you have paid into while working and have to have paid in long enough and in a specific time frame and it is an earned thing, basically just getting retirement earlier than you wanted.