Help someone save an average of $3,900 on prescription drug costs

Do you know someone who needs help with prescription costs?

To qualify for Extra Help, they must:

• Reside in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia
• Have resources limited to $12,510 for an individual or $25,010 for a married couple living together. Resources include such things as bank accounts, stocks and bonds. We do not count their home and car as resources; and
• Have income limited to $16,245 for an individual or $21,855 for a married couple living together.

Even if their annual income is higher, the ones you care about still may be able to get some help with their monthly premiums, annual deductibles and prescription co-payments. Some examples where income may be higher include if they or their spouse:

—Support other family members who live with them;

—Have earnings from work; or

—Live in Alaska or Hawaii.

Note: Beginning January 1, 2010, more Medicare beneficiaries may qualify for Extra Help because some things no longer count as resources and income. We will no longer count as a resource any life insurance policy; and we will no longer count as income the help they receive regularly from someone else to pay their household expenses—food, mortgage, rent, heating fuel or gas, electricity, water, and property taxes.

Getting started

To help Medicare beneficiaries apply for Extra Help, there is a worksheet on the opposite page. The worksheet is not an application but writing down the information it asks for will make it easier to complete the application for Extra Help.

Ask whoever you are helping to:

• Identify the things they own alone, with their spouse or with someone else. They should not include their home, vehicles, burial plots or personal possessions.
• Review all their income.
• Gather their records in advance to save time.

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Documents that will help you prepare in advance for anyone you are helping

• Statements that show their account balances at banks, credit unions or other financial institutions;
• Investment statements;
• Stock certificates;
• Tax returns;
• Pension award letters; and
• Payroll slips.

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State agencies may be able to help with Medicare costs

Beginning January 1, 2010, when Medicare beneficiaries apply for Extra Help, they also can start their application process for the Medicare Savings Programs—state programs that provide help with other Medicare costs. Social Security will send the beneficiaries’ information to their state unless they tell us not to on the Extra Help application. The state will contact the beneficiaries to help them apply for a Medicare Savings Program.

How to file for Extra Help or just get more information

You can help someone apply for Extra Help online at www.socialsecurity.gov/extrahelp. To help them apply by phone or get an application, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) and ask for the Application for Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs (Form SSA-1020). Social Security representatives are available to help complete the application. You also can visit your local Social Security office for assistance. For more information about Extra Help with Medicare prescription drug plan costs, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/extrahelp or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). To learn more about the Medicare Savings Programs, Medicare prescription drug plans, how to enroll in a plan, or to request a copy of the Medicare & You handbook, please visit www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048). When you call, you can request information about how to contact the Medicare beneficiary’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). The SHIP can help the beneficiary with their Medicare prescription drug plans. You also can find the beneficiary’s local SHIP contact information in the back of their Medicare handbook or obtain the information online at www.medicare.gov/contacts/staticpages/ships.aspx.

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We need to know information about their (and their spouse’s, if they are married and living together) resources and income:

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