Medicare Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) - Extra Help

Medicare Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) - Extra Help

If you are struggling to pay the high costs of your prescription drugs, you can apply for Extra Help to lower your copays.  Medicare’s Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), also known as Extra Help is a federal program designed to help people with limited income and resources pay for their Medicare Part D prescription drug costs.

What Extra Help Covers

If you qualify, Extra Help can save you hundreds or more each year by covering:

• Your Part D premium — $0

• Your Part D deductible — $0

• Your prescription copays:

  • $4.90 for each generic

  • $12.15 for each brand-name

• After your total drug costs reach $2,000, you’ll pay $0 for all covered prescriptions.

Who Can Qualify

Eligibility is based on income and resources (assets). For 2025 in Suffolk and Nassau Counties, NY, the limits are:

• Income:

  • $23,475 (individual)

  • $31,130 (couple)

• Resources:

  • $17,600 (individual)

  • $35,130 (couple)

What counts as resources:  Bank accounts, stocks, bonds, non-primary real estate

What does NOT count: Your home, one car, household furnishings, personal items, burial plots, and up to $1,500 set aside for burial expenses

How It Works

• If you qualify, you’ll be automatically enrolled in a Medicare drug plan if you don’t already have one. You’ll receive a letter about your plan, and you can switch plans if you prefer a different one.

• You’ll keep getting Extra Help for the year, even if your income changes midyear.

• If you still qualify the following year, it continues automatically.

  
  

🖊 How to Apply Applying is quick and free:

🔗 www.ssa.gov/medicare/part-d-extra-help

Medicare LIS Extra Help