If your income is limited, three programs can lower your Medicare costs. Extra Help, also called the Low-Income Subsidy, reduces drug costs to a few dollars per prescription and removes the Part D premium and deductible. Medicare Savings Programs pay your Part B premium, and some pay your deductibles and copays. If you qualify for full Medicaid, a Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan bundles everything into one card with $0 costs for most care.
Extra Help for drug costs
Extra Help is federal and applies through Social Security. For 2026, an individual with income under about $23,500 and resources under about $17,600, or a married couple under about $31,700 income and $35,100 resources, qualifies. Your home, one car and personal belongings do not count as resources.
With Extra Help, you pay no Part D premium for a benchmark plan, no deductible, and at most $5.10 for brand-name drugs and $1.60 for generics in 2026. There is no late enrollment penalty. If you qualify for Medicaid or a Medicare Savings Program, you get Extra Help automatically.
Medicare Savings Programs for the Part B premium
These are state programs with income limits that vary by state. The most common, QMB, pays your Part B premium of $202.90 a month plus your Medicare deductibles and coinsurance. Providers cannot bill you at all. Two other levels, SLMB and QI, pay the Part B premium only. Getting $202.90 back on your Social Security check is the single biggest saving available, and most people who qualify have never applied.
Dual Eligible plans
If you have both Medicare and full Medicaid, a Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan is a Medicare Advantage plan designed for that situation. It coordinates both programs, usually with $0 premiums and copays, and often adds a monthly allowance for groceries, utilities or over-the-counter items, transportation to appointments and dental. These plans have their own enrollment windows, and if you become eligible you can join at almost any time.
How I help
I check whether you are likely to qualify, tell you which program pays the most, and walk you through the application. If a Dual plan fits, I compare the ones in your area. None of this costs you anything.
Request a plan check and tell me you want the income programs checked. That conversation has put $2,400 a year back in people's pockets.