Extra Help With Medicare Drug Costs Is Worth About $5,700 a Year: Income and Savings Limits Decide Who Qualifies
Anyone who has Medicare can get Medicare prescription drug coverage, and people with limited resources and income may also qualify for Extra Help with the costs, the Social Security Administration (SSA) explains. Extra Help covers monthly premiums, annual deductibles and prescription co-payments under a Medicare drug plan, and is estimated to be worth about $5,700 per year.
Eligibility turns on two limits. Resources must be limited to $18,090 for a person or $36,100 for a married couple living together; Social Security looks at savings, investments and real estate other than the applicant's home. Annual income must be limited to $23,940 for a person or $32,460 for a married couple living together.
Some people do not need to apply separately: those receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), full Medicaid coverage, or help through a Medicare Savings Program are treated as automatically eligible. Everyone else applies by filing an Application for Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs (Form SSA-1020).
Applications can be filed online on Social Security's Medicare Part D Extra Help page, by calling 1-800-772-1213, or at a local Social Security office. SSA also notes that people who do not enroll in a Medicare drug plan when first eligible may face a late enrollment penalty if they join later, which makes sorting out both the plan and the subsidy early worthwhile. (Source: Social Security Administration)
Source: Social Security Administration
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：药片特写。Wikimedia Commons 图片。 / Photo: Prescription pills. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
