EDU: Disabilty information/Government Programs for Low-Income People on Medicare

[Guest guest]

For those of you who are in the U.S. A. and are low income, you might

find

this quite interesting. Let's hope it helps some of you. I pulled

information on

the programs directly from www.medicare.gov, www.socialsecurity.gov

and the

Medicare and You 2006 Handbook.

Government Programs for Low-Income People on Medicare

Extra help paying for Meicare Prescription Drug Coverage: If you have

limited

income and resources, you may qualify for extra help paying your

prescription

drug costs. If you qualify, you will get help paying for your drug

plan's

monthly premium, yearly deductable, and prescrition copayments. You

may qualify

if your resources are less than $11,500 if you are single or $23,000

if you are

married and living with your spouse. If you think you may qualify,

call

1., visit www.socialsecurity.gov on the web or apply at

your State

Medical Assistance office. To locate the State Medical Assistance

organization

for your area you can visit www.medicare.gove on the web or call

to

get the telephone number for your state.

Specified Low-income Medicare Beneficiary Program (SLMB) A Medicaid

program

that pays for Medicare Part B premiums for individuals who have

Medicare Part A,

a low monthly income, and limited resources.

Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Program (QMB) This is a Medicaid

program for

beneficiaries who need help in paying for Medicare services. The

beneficiary

must have Medicare Part A and limited income and resources. For those

who

qualify, the Medicaid program pays Medicare Part A premiums, Part B

premiums,

and Medicare deductibles and coinsurance amounts for Medicare

services.

Qualifying Individual-1 (QI-1) This is a Medicaid program for

beneficiaries

who need help in paying for Medicare Part B premiums. The beneficiary

must have

Medicare Part A and limited income and resources and not be otherwise

eligible

for Medicaid. For those who qualify, the Medicaid program pays full

Medicare

Part B premiums only.

Qualifying Individual-2 (QI-2) Programs This is a Medicaid program for

beneficiaries who need help in paying for Medicare Part B premiums.

The

beneficiary must have Medicare Part A and limited income and

resources and not

be otherwise eligible for Medicaid. For those who qualify, Medicaid

pays a

percentage of Medicare Part B premiums only.

Medicaid A joint federal and state program that helps with medical

costs for

some people with low incomes and limited resources. Medicaid programs

vary from

state to state, but most health care costs are covered if you qualify

for both

Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare Savings Programs (help from your sate Medicaid program paying

Medicare premiums) There are programs that help millions of people

with Medicare

save money each year. States have programs for people with limited

incomes and

resources that pay Medicare premiums. Some programs may also pay

Medicare

deductibles and coinsurance. You can apply for these programs if: You

have

Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance). (If you are eligible for

Medicare Part A

but don't think you can afford it, there is a program that may pay

the Medicare

Part A premium for you.), you are an individual with resources of

$4,000 or

less, or are a couple with resources of $6,000 or less. Resources

include money

in a savings or checking account, stocks, or bonds and You are an

individual

with a monthly income of less than $1,031, or a couple with a monthly

income of

less than $1,384. Income limits will change slightly in 2004. If you

live in

Hawaii or Alaska, income limits are slightly higher. Note: If your

income is less than the amounts listed above, you may qualify for

Medicaid.

Supplimental Security Income Benefits (SSI): This is a monthly

benefit paid by

the Social Security Administration to people with limited income and

resources

who are disabled, blind or age 65 or older. You must be a resident of

the United

States, not be absent from the country for more than 30 days, and be

either a US

citizen or national, or in on of certain categories of eligible non-

citizens.

For more information, call Social Security at 1. or

contact your

local Social security office. TTY users should call 1..

You can also

go to www.socialsecurity.gov and use the Benefits Eligibility

Screening Tool

(BEST) to find out if you are either eligible for SSI or other

benefits to help

you decide wheterh to apply.

Medicare Approved Drug Discount Cards: Introduced in 2004 to help

people on

Medicare get a discount on their prescription drugs. Medicare

perscription drug

coverage beings in 2006. The drug discount cards aer temproarty and

Medicare

approved drug discount cards end in 2006. You can continue to use

your drug

discount card until May 15th, 2006, or until you join a drug plan,

whichever

comes first. If you qualified for your Medicare approved drug

discount card, you

may also qualify for help paying your drug plan costs. To find out

more, visit

www.medicare.gov on the web or call 1.800.MEDICARE (1.)

TTY users

should call 1.

GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS TO HELP LOW-INCOME PEOPLE ON MEDICARE

(This is the way it used to work so things may have changed a little

bit for

2006)

What government programs can help low-income people on Medicare get

better

health coverage?

There are a number of government programs that can help low-income

people on

Medicare get better health coverage. They are the Medicaid, the

Qualified

Medicare Beneficiary program (QMB), the Specified Low-income Medicare

Beneficiary (SLMB) program, the Qualifying Individual-1 (QI-1)

program, and the

Qualifying Individual-2 (QI-2) program.

If you have QMB and/or Medicaid, Medicare should pay first and

QMB/Medicaid

should pay what's left over. Both programs pay your Medicare

premiums. Your

Medicare deductibles and co-insurance are covered as long as you go to

Medicaid-participating providers. If you do not go to Medicaid-

participating

providers, you may be responsible for the Medicare deductibles and co-

insurance.

You can have both Medicaid and QMB at the same time. You can also

have both

Medicaid and SLMB, QI-1, or QI-2 at the same time.

Can low-income people on Medicare also receive Medicaid benefits?

For low-income people with Medicare, Medicaid acts as a " secondary "

payer that

also covers prescription drugs, eyeglasses, hearing aids, and long-

term care. A

single person's income cannot be higher than $654 a month to qualify

for this

coverage, and a couple's income must be below $945 a month. A single

person's

assets (savings accounts, checking accounts, IRA's, bonds, property,

automobiles, etc.) cannot be higher than $3,800 and a couple's assets

cannot be

higher than $5,500. People whose income is above these limits, who

also have

high medical costs for which they have no coverage, may be able to

get Medicaid

coverage through the Medicaid " spend-down " program.

(for a publication that explains how Medicare works with other

insurances, as

for Medicare and Other Health Benefits: Your Guide to Who Pays First -

02179 or

download a PDF file at

http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Search/Results.asp?

PubID=02179 & Type=PubID & L\

anguage=English

Q. What are the Qualifying Individual-1 (QI-1) and the Qualifying

Individual-2

program (QI-2) programs?

A. The QI-1 program pays the entire monthly premium for Medicare Part

B, which

is currently $88.50 a month. To qualify, a single person's income

cannot exceed

$1,017 a month and a couple's income cannot exceed $1,364 a month.

The QI-2

program pays only up to $34.44 per year towards the monthly Part B

premium, but

it has a higher income eligibility limit ($1,313 a month for a single

person and

$1,762 a month for couples). Most importantly, there are no asset

limits for

these two programs so people can have any amount of money in assets

and still

qualify.

To find out if you qualify for any of the programs listed above, you

can call

the Medicare Rights Center at 1-.

What to bring to your Medicaid QMB, SLMB, QI-1 or QI-2 interview:

Proof of identity and residence

Proof of citizenship/legal alien status

Social Security and Medicare cards Proof of disability (if applicable)

Proof of employment status

Information about all income and assets (bank statements, stock

certificates,

insurance policies, etc.)

Other Government Programs that assist Low Income people

U.S. Department of Agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a loan program entitled

the

Farmer's Home Administration (FmHA). This loan program provides loans

to

low-income borrowers who live in a rural area so they can make

improvements to

their home.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contains

two helpful

resources. The first is the HUD lender list search which allows you

to locate

various types of lenders (reverse mortgage, insurance, and

rehabilitation) in

your area. The second resource is the HUD list of housing counseling

agencies.

These agencies can give you advice on buying or renting a home,

defaults,

foreclosures, credit issues, and reverse mortgages. You can get this

information

by looking at the HUD website or by calling HUD at 1-.

You can also contact HUD for information about the FHA 203K program

for home

repairs for low-income families.

Other Insurance and Ways to Pay Health Care Costs

Employer and Union health coverage

Veterans Benefits

Military Retiree Benefits (TRICARE)

Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHB)

Paying for Long Term Care

For more information about how other kinds of insurance work with

Medicare,

visit www.medicare.gov on the web, call your State Health Insurance

Assistance

Program (the telephone nujmber for your state is listed on the inside

back cover

of the Medicare and You 2006 official government handbook), or call 1

800

MEDICARE (1 to get a FREE copy of Medicare and Other

Health

Benefits: Your Guide to Who Pays First " (CMS Pub. No. 02179)

(Beautiful Southern Oregon, USA)

We may not be able to change the direction of the wind, but we can

adjust our

sails.

May you have enough happiness to make you kind, enough trials to make

you

strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you

happy.

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