Additional information for family members, caregivers and third parties
You can help someone you care about apply for extra help with their Medicare prescription drug plan costs. Anyone who has Medicare can get Medicare Prescription Drug coverage. Extra help is available for people with limited income and resources and will pay for part of the monthly premiums, annual deductibles and prescription copayments related to their plan. The extra help could be worth up to $4,000 per year. Many people with limited income and resources qualify for these big savings and don’t even know it. To find out if someone is eligible, Social Security will need to know their income and the value of their savings, investments and real estate (other than their home). If they are married and living with their spouse, we will need this information for both of them.If you assist someone with the application, you must answer the questions as if that person were completing the application.
Social Security can give you an application for extra help, so you can help a Medicare beneficiary apply. The worksheet can assist you with the application, but the worksheet is not an application. (Click here to open the Income and Resources Worksheet in a new window.)
Ask whoever you are helping to:
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, life insurance or personal possessions.
- Review all their income.
- Gather their records in advance to save time.
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.
State agencies also may be able to help with Medicare costs
State medical assistance (Medicaid) offices offer a Medicare Savings Program. The Medicare Savings Program also helps people with limited income and resources pay for their Medicare expenses. If the person you are helping is paying a premium for Medicare Part A, the Medicare Savings Program may pay it for them. The help they get from the Medicare Savings Program can save them more than $1,100 a year. This assistance is in addition to the extra help.
If you think they might be able to get help with Medicare costs from their state, or if you are not sure, call their state medical assistance (Medicaid) office or 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048).
What you should do next
You can help someone apply for extra help online at www.socialsecurity.gov. 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 Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs (SSA-1020).
To learn more about the Medicare prescription drug plans visit PDP-Finder.com. To learn more about special enrollment periods, visit What are the Medicare Part D Special Enrollment Periods (SEP)?
Also see:
- 2026 Federal Poverty Level Guidelines (FPL): 2026/2027 LIS Qualifications and Benefits
- 2027 Low-Income Subsidy Benchmark Premium Amounts (includes 2026 - 2006 for comparison)
- What is the income limit for extra help?
- What does not count toward the income limit?
- What is the resource limit?
- What does not count as a resource?
- Income and Resources (Assets) Worksheet
- CMS Guide to LIS Consumer Mailings
- What will plans be like in 2027
(Source: Social Security Administration: Understanding The Extra Help With Your Medicare Prescription Drug Plan publication 10508, January 2011. Additional examples and links from this site)