Help Paying Medicare Prescription Costs

Help Available for Medicare Prescription Costs

The Extra Help program can greatly reduce your prescription drug costs.  It’s available to people with limited income and resources and helps reduce monthly premiums and annual deductibles for Medicare Part D prescription plans.  Part D plans provide prescription coverage and enrolling in a plan makes prescriptions much more affordable—often reducing out-of-pocket expenses to a small co-pay for each prescription after a yearly deductible has been met.  The amount of the co-pay, monthly premium and annual deductible depends upon the specific plan you enroll in, and there are many plans to choose from.

The Extra Help program will reduce the costs for your prescription coverage plan by:

• Reducing your monthly premiums (some basic plans will be available at NO monthly cost)
• Reducing any yearly deductibles
• Eliminating the coverage gap or “doughnut hole”

How Do You Know If You Qualify?

You automatically qualify for Extra Help if you:

• Have full Medicaid coverage
• You get help from the state to pay for your Medicare Part B premiums
• You get SSI

If you automatically qualify, you’ll receive a purple letter to let you know. If you have not received a letter, you still may be eligible if your income falls below a certain level.

What Should You Do If You Think You Qualify?

If you think you qualify, our Medicare Assistance Program can help you with the application.  For one-on-one assistance, call (800) 803-7174.