2025 Quarters Of Coverage Ssa Eligibility. We consider the number of quarters of coverage you earned to determine if you are insured. Everyone needs 40 quarters of coverage to be eligible for social security retirement benefits and the premium free hospital insurance of medicare.
Quarter of coverage (qc) a quarter of coverage is credit for a requisite amount of covered earnings assigned to a calendar quarter on the earnings record of the worker. You earn credits, or “quarters of coverage” in ssa parlance, by doing work in which you pay social security taxes on your income.