Many seniors are struggling with health care costs and co-pays for their prescription drugs.  Many do not realize they can get help. If an individual has income of  less than $1,354 per month ($16,245 per year), or a couple’s income is less than $1,821 per month ($21,855 per year), they can get help from the State of Arizona and/or Social Security.

There are several levels of income that qualify a person or a couple for help.  An individual with a monthly income of $1,238 or less can get help from a program called  “Medicare Cost Sharing”. The monthly income limit for a couple is about $1,659. This program is for seniors and people under 65 who are on Social Security Disability and Medicare.

Help from the State of Arizona: A person on Medicare fills out an AHCCCS form and provides proof of income or where it comes from.  (AHCCCS is Medicaid in Arizona.) This proof can be the annual letter from Social Security that shows how much a person receives and how much is being taken out for the Part B premium and any other charges, such as a Part D premium to an insurance company.  Sometimes bank statements may need to be provided.

Here’s the help: Once approved for the Medicare Cost Sharing program, the state will pay the person’s part B premium, which is $96.40 per month (or $110.50 if you are new to Medicare this year). The state will also pay the Part D premium, up to about $20.00 per month. Then Social Security provides a subsidy to help with prescription costs, so the person will pay only $6.30 for a one-month supply of even the most expensive brand name drugs. Generics would cost $2 per month.

Another important benefit is that people getting this help do not have a “doughnut hole” in their drug plan. This is the gap in Part D plans during which the plan stops paying for drugs and the person must pay 100% of the cost – until $4,050 has been spent.

Help from Social Security: Some people qualify for help with their drug costs, but not the state’s help with their Medicare Part B premium.  People who have monthly income between $1,231 and $1,354 (for a single person)  or between $1,660 and $1,821 (for a couple) can get help with their Part D premium and their prescription costs.  This help is received through an application to Social Security.  Go to SSA.gov.  In the left hand column of the web page there is are several links to topics.  See the fifth link in the list, Get Help with Medicare Drug Costs. This will take you to the page to apply for assistance.

I’ve heard that over 25% of seniors who qualify for help are unaware of these assistance programs. Having $96 or $110.50 more to spend each month is a big help. But the drug cost help can be the difference between choosing to take needed prescriptions and having money to buy food.  So spread the word.

FYI:  AHCCCS stands for Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System and is pronounced “access”.

Forms can be found on-line at: http://www.azahcccs.gov

Or email me at medicareblog@gmail.com

This entry was posted on Friday, December 3rd, 2010 at 8:56 am and is filed under Health. Tags for this post: help for seniors tucson, medicare assistance tucson, medicare cost sharing, Medicare cost sharing arizona, medicare help, medicare part d help, medicare savings plan, part d help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.