Senior Benefits in Texas: Medicare Help, SSI, Free Food, and Which Office to Call
If you are older, living in Texas, and money is tight, there are five programmes you can hold at once. The hard part is not qualifying. The hard part is that four different agencies run them and none of them will tell you about the other three.
Here is all of it, in the order that gets you the most.
The Texas numbers, in one place
| Programme | Key Texas figure |
|---|---|
| Medicare Part B premium the state can pay | $202.90 a month |
| MSP income limit, QMB level | $1,350 single |
| MSP asset limit | $9,950 single — the federal floor |
| SSI, living independently | $994 — no state supplement |
| Senior food box income limit, one person | $1,729 a month |
| Senior meals income test | Prohibited by federal law |
→ swipe the table sideways · Maximums, revised annually · Sources on each linked page
Texas pays your Medicare Part B premium — $202.90 a month — through the Medicare Savings Programs, and at the QMB level covers your deductibles and copays too.
Texas sets both limits at the federal minimum and does not raise them. The asset test is what usually stops an application here, not the income test: $9,950 for one person against $130,000 in California and no test at all in thirteen states.
This has nothing to do with Medicaid expansion. QMB, SLMB, and QI are mandatory federal eligibility groups. Every state must offer all three, and Texas has no choice about it.
FULL GUIDE → Texas limits, what QMB actually covers, and how Texas ranks
HOW TO APPLY → Form H1200, and why estate recovery does not apply
Extra Help cuts prescriptions to $5.10 for generics and $12.65 for brand-name drugs, with no deductible. Above $2,100 out of pocket in a year, you pay nothing.
If step 01 worked, you already have this. QMB, SLMB, and QI all qualify you automatically. No second application.
If you are applying directly instead, tell Social Security you expect to use some savings for burial expenses. That sentence raises your resource limit by $1,500.
FULL GUIDE → Limits, copays, and the $1,500 most people leave behind
HOW TO APPLY → The box you should never check
SSI pays $994 a month to an individual in 2026. In Texas that is usually the whole payment — the state supplement here is tied to particular residential settings rather than paid generally. A Californian in the same situation receives $1,233.94.
The reason to apply anyway is what comes with it. Texas Medicaid arrives automatically, with no separate application, through a data exchange between Social Security and HHSC. In a state that did not expand Medicaid, that is the largest thing on this page.
FULL GUIDE → How much you get and why Texas adds nothing
HOW TO APPLY → Where to go, and the Medicaid that arrives on its own
A monthly box of groceries, and hot meals. The box has an income limit — $1,729 a month for one person, which is the lower 130% threshold. Meals have no income test at all; federal law forbids one.
Over the income line? It may not matter. QMB, SLMB, QI, Extra Help, SSI, and SNAP each qualify you for the food box regardless of income. If steps 01 to 03 worked, this one is already open.
FULL GUIDE → Texas income limits and what stacks with what
WHERE TO GO → Food bank sites, meal programmes, and the proxy form
If you have full Medicaid, federal law requires Texas to arrange a ride to medical appointments when you have no other way to get there. Many programmes reimburse mileage when a relative drives you, and rides home from hospital normally need no advance notice.
Texas Area Agencies on Aging also run their own transportation services, separate from Medicaid. Worth asking about in the same call as meals.
FULL GUIDE → What Medicaid owes you
HOW TO BOOK → And what to do when the ride doesn't come
The order that matters
In Texas this matters more than in most states, because one approval keeps unlocking the next.
| If you get this | You automatically get | Apply again? |
|---|---|---|
| QMB, SLMB, or QI | Part D Extra Help | No |
| QMB, SLMB, QI, or Extra Help | Senior food box — income test waived | Mention it on the form |
| SSI in Texas | Texas Medicaid | No |
| Full Medicaid | Rides to medical appointments | No |
→ swipe the table sideways
Start at 01. A single Medicare Savings Program application in Texas opens three doors: your premium, your drug costs, and a monthly box of groceries with no income test attached.
Four offices, and which is which
This is the part that defeats people. Texas splits senior benefits across four separate agencies.
| What you want | Who takes it | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare premiums, Medicaid, SNAP | Texas Health and Human Services | YourTexasBenefits.com or 2-1-1 |
| SSI and Extra Help | Social Security | ssa.gov or 1-800-772-1213 |
| Senior food box | Texas Department of Agriculture, through your regional food bank | Your local food bank |
| Meals, transportation, caregiver support | Your Area Agency on Aging | hhs.texas.gov or 1-800-677-1116 |
→ swipe the table sideways
If you are only going to make one call, make it 2-1-1. They will not process anything, but they will tell you which of the four you actually need.
Tools you'll need anyway
Free, official, and no account required.
Every programme on this page is free to apply for. Nobody legitimate charges to file on your behalf. If someone asks for payment, hang up and dial 2-1-1.
If you are not in Texas
All statesSenior benefits: the national guide→ Compare all 50Medicare Savings Program limits by state→ The other big stateSenior benefits in California→Every figure on this page comes from the linked guide, and each of those carries its own source and verification date. Limits change every year and Texas adopts them on its 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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