Keep all information you get from Medicare, Social Security, your Medicare health or prescription drug plan, Medigap insurer, or employer or union. This may include notices of award or denial, Annual Notices of Change, notices of creditable prescription drug coverage, or Medicare Summary Notices. You may need these documents to apply for the programs explained in this section. Also keep copies of any applications you submit.

Programs for People with Limited Income and Resources
If you have limited income and resources, you might qualify for help to pay for some health care and prescription drug costs.
The U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands provide their residents help with Medicare drug costs. This help isn’t the same as the Extra Help described below. See page 84 for more information.

Extra Help Paying for Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage (Part D)
You may qualify for Extra Help, also called the low-income subsidy (LIS) from Medicare to pay prescription drug costs if your yearly income and resources are below the following limits in 2009:

Single person—Income less than $16,245 and resources less than $12,510
Married person living with a spouse and no other dependents—Income less than $21,855 and resources less than $25,010

These amounts will change in 2010. You may qualify even if you have a higher income (like if you still work, or if you live in Alaska or Hawaii, or have dependents living with you). Resources include money in a checking or savings account, stocks, and bonds. Resources don’t include your home, car, household items, burial plot, up to $1,500 for burial expenses (per person), or life insurance policies.

For more information see: http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/10050.pdf

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