FORCE Act Opens Medicare at 57 for First Responders with 10 Years of Service, Mandates Guaranteed Medigap Coverage

The “First Responders Care Expansion Act of 2025,” or the FORCE Act, is a straightforward bill that creates a new early-access lane for Medicare. It allows specific first responders—think police, firefighters, and EMTs—to enroll in Medicare Parts A, B, and D starting at age 57, a full eight years before the standard age 65 cutoff. To qualify, you must have at least 10 years of service in those defined roles (Section 2).

This isn't a free pass, though. If you enroll early, you’ll be paying the full standard monthly premiums for Part B, and potentially Part A if you haven't accrued enough work history to qualify for premium-free Part A later (Section 2). Essentially, the bill lets these essential workers buy into the Medicare system early, providing a subsidized, government-backed insurance option during those years when private insurance can be incredibly expensive.

The 10-Year Service Hook: Who Qualifies?

The bill specifically targets occupations defined by certain Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes: 331010 (First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives), 331020 (First-Line Supervisors of Fire Fighting and Prevention Workers), 332000 (Firefighting and Prevention Workers), 333000 (Law Enforcement Workers), and 339092 (Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics). This clarity is good—it means the benefit is tightly focused on those who spend their careers running toward emergencies. If you’ve hit 57 and logged a decade in one of those jobs, you can sign up in the month before you turn 57, with coverage starting the following month (Section 2).

For someone who retired at 55 after a demanding career, this means they only need to bridge two years of health insurance before Medicare becomes available, rather than a full decade. This is a huge deal for managing retirement costs, especially for workers whose physically demanding jobs often necessitate earlier exits from the workforce.

Guaranteed Coverage: No More Medigap Headaches

One of the most important provisions for early enrollees deals with Medicare Supplemental Insurance, or Medigap. These policies cover the gaps in Medicare (like deductibles and co-pays), and typically, insurers can refuse to sell you a policy or charge you more based on pre-existing conditions unless you apply during a specific six-month window when you first turn 65.

The FORCE Act mandates a change here: the Secretary must work with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to revise Medigap standards. The goal is to guarantee that insurers selling Medigap policies must accept early enrollees under this new provision if they apply within 30 days of their initial Medicare enrollment at age 57 (Section 2). This prevents first responders from being penalized for enrolling early and ensures they get access to comprehensive supplemental coverage, which keeps their out-of-pocket costs predictable.

The Fine Print: What This Doesn't Do

While this bill provides a significant benefit, it includes a crucial administrative restriction. It explicitly prohibits states from using this new Medicare option to “buy in” current Medicaid beneficiaries aged 57 to 64 (Section 2). This is likely intended to prevent states from shifting the cost of covering their older, higher-cost Medicaid population onto the federal Medicare system, which is funded by the newly created Medicare First Responder Trust Fund (Section 2).

If you are a first responder who happens to be on Medicaid, you are generally barred from enrolling in this new program. However, there is a small exception: if your existing Medicaid coverage doesn't qualify as “minimum essential coverage,” you might still be able to enroll. This nuance means that while the bill helps those who can afford the Medicare premiums, it doesn't solve the healthcare access problem for the lowest-income first responders already relying on state assistance.