Being a permanent resident for 5 years is NOT a requirement. Below is the list of requirements.

"Who qualifies for Medicare? All American citizens and permanent residents over age 65 qualify for Part A Medicare if they meet one of the following requirements:


Eligible for or receiving Social Security benefits
Eligible for or receiving Railroad Retirement benefits
You worked in a government job for a minimum amount of time during which payments were made into Medicare on your behalf.
Your living, diseased, or divorced spouse met any of the above criteria


If you are over 65 and don't meet one of those "who qualifies for Medicare" criteria, you can still access the health plan by paying a premium for it.

Additionally, there are people who qualifies for Medicare who are under 65. for instance, people with end stage renal disease or Lou Gehrig's disease also qualify.

Anyone who qualifies for Part A Medicare also automatically qualifies for Part B Medicare. You should be aware however that while Part A is free, there is a monthly premium for Part B. People who do not qualify for Part A can still pay for Part B under certain conditions.

Part A medicare is the original plan and is still operated by the government. It covers hospital services. Part B is medical insurance for seniors and covers doctor's visits, outpatient care and the like.

If you qualify for Part A and Part B, you will also qualify for Parts C and D. Part C replaces parts A and B with a more comprehensive insurance plan including prescription drug benefits at a more expensive price. Part D provides prescription drug benefits to people on Parts A and B."

My mother was a permanent resident ( GC ) but did not qualify. She was able to get medicare by paying for part A ( normally free ). She paid about $300 /mo but that was 9 years ago. I am sure it is much higher now. She paid the regular premium for part B that everybody pays. Parts C and D did not exist then.

I have a Medicare Advantage Plan from Healthnet. I pay zero premium and zero co-pays and it also includes Part D ( prescriptions ) at no cost to me. It also includes free gym membership and a lot of other things. I have my choice of more than 15 different Medicare Advantage plans from various companies.