Senior Benefits 2026: Help With Medicare Premiums, Drugs, and Getting There
If you are on Medicare with a low income, several programs can cover your premiums, cut your drug costs to a few dollars, and get you to the doctor. Some are separate applications. Some arrive automatically once you have the first one.
They are listed in the order that matters. Start at 01.
The state pays your Medicare Part B premium — $202.90 a month in 2026. At the QMB level it also covers your deductibles and copays, including the $283 Part B deductible and the $1,736 hospital deductible.
Every state runs these programs, but the limits are not the same. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia count no assets at all. Eleven states set income limits above the federal floor, the highest being DC at $4,010 a month for one person.
This is the application worth making first.
START HERE → All 50 states and DC compared
Or go straight to your state
DON'T KNOW WHO TO CALL → Find your state office and what to call the program
Extra Help cuts prescriptions to $5.10 for generics and $12.65 for brand-name drugs, with no deductible. Once your out-of-pocket spending reaches $2,100 in a year, you pay nothing at all.
The resource limit is $16,590 for one person — or $18,090 if you tell Social Security you expect to use some savings for burial expenses. That $1,500 difference is the reason many applications fail.
If you have QMB, SLMB, or QI, you already have this. No second application. Skip to 03.
| Agency | Phone | Apply |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | 1-800-772-1213 | ssa.gov |
FULL GUIDE → 2026 limits and the $1,500 most people leave behind
HOW TO APPLY → The box you should never check
If you have full Medicaid, federal law requires your state to arrange a ride to medical appointments when you have no other way to get there. It is not a courtesy some states offer — 42 CFR 431.53 applies everywhere.
Many states also reimburse mileage when a family member drives you, which is usually faster than waiting for a van. Rides home from the hospital and trips to the pharmacy normally need no advance notice at all.
FULL GUIDE → What Medicaid owes you
HOW TO BOOK → And what to do when the ride doesn't come
Federal SSI pays $994 a month to an individual in 2026. Forty-four states and the District of Columbia add money on top of that — but in thirty-three of them the state pays it separately, and your award letter will not mention it.
Six states add nothing at all.
FULL GUIDE → Why $994 is not the whole payment
WHICH DOOR → Find out whether you have to ask for it
A monthly box of about thirty to forty pounds of groceries for people 60 and over, plus congregate meals and home delivery through your Area Agency on Aging.
The meals program is barred by law from means testing you. You can hold the food box, the meals, and SNAP at the same time — they do not cancel each other out.
FULL GUIDE → Income limits and what stacks with what
WHERE TO SIGN UP → Two offices, two phone numbers
The order that matters
These programs are not independent. One unlocks the next, and applying in the wrong order means filling out forms you never needed.
| If you get this | You automatically get | Apply again? |
|---|---|---|
| QMB, SLMB, or QI | Part D Extra Help | No |
| Full Medicaid | Free rides to appointments | No |
| Senior food box (CSFP) | TEFAP food assistance | No |
→ swipe the table sideways
Start with 01. A Medicare Savings Program is the single application that opens the most doors, and it is the one people are most often told they do not qualify for when they do.
Everything for one state, on one page
All five programs above, with that state's own numbers and offices.
Tools you'll need anyway
Free government tools. No account, no fee.
Every program on this page is free to apply for. If someone asks for payment to file on your behalf, that is not the program.
Each linked guide carries its own sources and verification date. Income and resource limits change every year, and states adopt the new figures on their own schedule. Confirm with the administering agency before you apply. Benefit Almanac is not a government agency and cannot determine your eligibility.
Verified 2026-07-31
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