Update See: 2020 State Low-Income Subsidy Benchmark Premium Amounts - with a comparison of benchmark changes since 2006 at on this site.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2018 low-income premium subsidy amounts (or Benchmark) for Medicare Part D plans on July 31, 2017, and in 2018, forty (40) states will lower their Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) benchmark values and eleven (11) states will increase their benchmark premiums. Here are a few highlights of the 2018 LIS benchmarks:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2018 low-income premium subsidy amounts (or Benchmark) for Medicare Part D plans on July 31, 2017, and in 2018, forty (40) states will lower their Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) benchmark values and eleven (11) states will increase their benchmark premiums. Here are a few highlights of the 2018 LIS benchmarks:
- New Jersey will see the largest benchmark decrease with the 2018 LIS subsidy being $35.97 as compared to $40.81 in 2017. Alaska had the largest benchmark decrease last year.
- Colorado will have the largest benchmark increase with a 2018 LIS subsidy amount of $34.18 as compared to $32.04 in 2017. California had the largest benchmark increase last year.
- Idaho & Utah will have the highest 2018 benchmark premium of all CMS PDP regions at $40.24. Followed closely by Wisconsin at $40.04. Last year, New York, had the highest benchmark premium at $40.99.
- Arkansas will have the lowest benchmark in 2018 at $22.56.
As a reminder, the benchmark premium is the maximum monthly premium that will be paid by CMS for persons qualifying for LIS or the Medicare Part D " Extra Help" program. If a person receiving the low-income subsidy (LIS) enrolls in a Medicare Part D plan that has a premium higher than the subsidy amount listed below for their state, the beneficiary is responsible for paying the difference in premiums* (however, see the explanation of the de minimis premium policy below).
You can click on the premium subsidy for your state to see the plans for the selected year qualifying for the $0 premium (2018 Medicare Part D plan information available starting October 1, 2017).
| CMS Region | State(s) |
2018 Subsidy |
2017 Subsidy |
2016 Subsidy |
2015 Subsidy |
2014 Subsidy |
2013 Subsidy |
2012 Subsidy |
2011 Subsidy |
2010 Subsidy |
2009 Subsidy |
2008 Subsidy |
2007 Subsidy |
2006 Subsidy |
| 1 | NH, ME | $34.27 | $32.99 | $32.82 | $29.60 | $27.78 | $33.49 | $31.18 | $28.90 | $26.96 | $28.12 | $30.64 | $30.72 | $36.09 |
| 2 | CT, MA, RI, VT | $35.58 | $34.83 | $31.14 | $29.65 | $27.99 | $31.35 | $32.04 | $33.66 | $34.57 | $31.74 | $29.17 | $27.35 | $30.27 |
| 3 | NY | $38.98 | $40.99 | $39.73 | $36.94 | $37.23 | $43.22 | $39.79 | $38.69 | $33.32 | $27.71 | $24.18 | $24.45 | $29.83 |
| 4 | NJ | $35.97 | $40.81 | $39.98 | $37.64 | $37.10 | $37.04 | $36.00 | $35.74 | $35.01 | $30.99 | $31.23 | $28.12 | $31.37 |
| 5 | DE, DC, MD | $30.70 | $33.22 | $33.45 | $30.61 | $32.34 | $34.96 | $34.57 | $34.28 | $33.71 | $30.85 | $30.78 | $29.65 | $33.46 |
| 6 | PA, WV | $37.18 | $39.45 | $35.30 | $33.91 | $35.50 | $36.57 | $34.32 | $34.07 | $32.09 | $29.23 | $26.59 | $28.45 | $32.59 |
| 7 | VA | $30.05 | $32.52 | $32.78 | $29.47 | $29.34 | $30.06 | $30.95 | $33.25 | $34.15 | $31.72 | $31.03 | $30.52 | $34.42 |
| 8 | NC | $30.16 | $31.37 | $31.07 | $29.34 | $28.28 | $32.04 | $33.00 | $34.87 | $34.90 | $33.45 | $33.43 | $32.13 | $36.30 |
| 9 | SC | $23.03 | $26.03 | $26.57 | $28.78 | $33.87 | $38.75 | $36.15 | $36.90 | $35.02 | $32.01 | $31.12 | $31.41 | $34.88 |
| 10 | GA | $24.53 | $26.43 | $25.78 | $26.47 | $29.32 | $34.22 | $31.18 | $32.83 | $29.62 | $29.16 | $30.04 | $31.07 | $33.15 |
| 11 | FL | $29.07 | $29.13 | $28.07 | $25.83 | $22.13 | $24.76 | $23.82 | $25.41 | $27.45 | $21.47 | $19.16 | $22.63 | $29.07 |
| 12 | AL, TN | $30.62 | $31.76 | $31.32 | $30.20 | $29.67 | $33.69 | $31.71 | $33.72 | $30.73 | $29.80 | $28.29 | $29.60 | $32.33 |
| 13 | MI | $33.28 | $34.17 | $33.47 | $31.46 | $32.46 | $34.18 | $34.37 | $34.71 | $34.92 | $32.08 | $30.49 | $30.79 | $33.22 |
| 14 | OH | $31.95 | $32.30 | $29.52 | $28.64 | $28.93 | $29.87 | $29.41 | $29.67 | $30.47 | $28.40 | $26.82 | $28.51 | $30.69 |
| 15 | IN, KY | $31.24 | $32.06 | $31.90 | $31.79 | $34.95 | $37.22 | $35.92 | $36.44 | $35.75 | $33.95 | $33.50 | $32.42 | $35.69 |
| 16 | WI | $40.04 | $40.09 | $37.70 | $35.32 | $37.03 | $38.25 | $36.67 | $36.96 | $38.20 | $38.15 | $31.03 | $29.67 | $31.27 |
| 17 | IL | $27.50 | $28.68 | $29.60 | $28.23 | $28.59 | $30.94 | $30.23 | $30.65 | $31.59 | $30.18 | $30.26 | $29.66 | $31.60 |
| 18 | MO | $29.99 | $30.07 | $26.13 | $28.28 | $31.21 | $34.59 | $32.05 | $34.92 | $40.01 | $31.89 | $26.71 | $27.88 | $31.37 |
| 19 | AR | $22.56 | $22.58 | $20.92 | $24.76 | $30.03 | $34.15 | $31.62 | $32.12 | $28.48 | $26.89 | $27.69 | $30.51 | $35.45 |
| 20 | MS | $25.81 | $26.53 | $28.14 | $29.33 | $30.56 | $34.56 | $33.40 | $33.01 | $33.02 | $31.53 | $31.35 | $31.70 | $36.39 |
| 21 | LA | $30.92 | $32.80 | $32.13 | $31.28 | $31.75 | $37.33 | $35.01 | $34.75 | $31.32 | $27.48 | $24.62 | $28.45 | $34.14 |
| 22 | TX | $24.59 | $27.34 | $28.05 | $27.31 | $27.73 | $31.83 | $29.99 | $30.48 | $27.53 | $25.36 | $25.01 | $26.93 | $31.68 |
| 23 | OK | $29.65 | $30.83 | $30.72 | $29.97 | $30.18 | $32.80 | $31.53 | $33.62 | $32.31 | $29.36 | $28.04 | $30.35 | $35.13 |
| 24 | KS | $31.43 | $30.27 | $30.67 | $30.32 | $34.21 | $36.04 | $36.67 | $36.94 | $35.77 | $33.66 | $30.62 | $30.56 | $33.44 |
| 25 | IA, MN, MT, ND, NE, SD, WY | $33.99 | $34.02 | $30.93 | $30.00 | $32.23 | $34.61 | $36.02 | $37.47 | $37.55 | $33.19 | $30.61 | $29.50 | $33.11 |
| 26 | NM | $24.60 | $22.84 | $20.72 | $21.19 | $19.92 | $22.54 | $21.27 | $22.62 | $21.42 | $20.55 | $19.28 | $22.72 | $25.95 |
| 27 | CO | $34.18 | $32.04 | $29.89 | $28.93 | $26.90 | $31.92 | $32.38 | $32.85 | $30.99 | $30.17 | $24.59 | $27.37 | $28.92 |
| 28 | AZ | $32.88 | $35.11 | $33.17 | $32.89 | $27.49 | $29.41 | $26.84 | $27.34 | $24.75 | $16.22 | $15.92 | $21.37 | $24.62 |
| 29 | NV | $27.08 | $27.09 | $25.38 | $24.25 | $22.78 | $20.35 | $22.97 | $30.06 | $27.31 | $20.20** | $16.64 | $20.56 | $23.46 |
| 30 | OR, WA | $34.58 | $34.83 | $33.80 | $33.81 | $34.82 | $37.46 | $36.45 | $35.30 | $35.60 | $31.76 | $30.19 | $28.71 | $30.60 |
| 31 | ID, UT | $40.24 | $39.66 | $39.51 | $39.74 | $39.02 | $42.15 | $40.86 | $40.68 | $40.89 | $37.46 | $33.53 | $31.77 | $33.62 |
| 32 | CA | $35.51 | $36.28 | $31.05 | $28.84 | $28.10 | $29.88 | $30.86 | $32.35 | $28.99 | $24.86 | $19.80 | $21.03 | $23.25 |
| 33 | HI | $25.38 | $26.52 | $26.23 | $27.91 | $25.69 | $33.33 | $30.41 | $29.76 | $25.55 | $25.01 | $24.32 | $26.35 | $27.44 |
| 34 | AK | $32.92 | $34.06 | $36.36 | $32.86 | $37.07 | $34.71 | $36.46 | $36.89 | $38.00 | $36.00 | $36.42 | $33.56 | $34.66 |
*Note: Under the CMS de minimis premium policy, "Part D plans are required to charge full-premium subsidy eligible beneficiaries a monthly Part D beneficiary premium equal to the applicable low-income premium subsidy amount, if the plan’s beneficiary premium for basic prescription drug coverage exceeds the low-income premium subsidy amount by $2 or less." See:
**Note: The 2009 low-income benchmark premium amount calculated for region 29 is $19.68. The low-income premium subsidy amount of $20.20 is the lowest monthly beneficiary premium for a PDP that offers basic coverage in region 29. Section 1860D-14(b)(3) of the Social Security Act states that the low-income premium subsidy amount is the greater of the lowest monthly beneficiary premium for a PDP that offers basic coverage and the low-income benchmark premium amount.