Medicare Savings Programs pay some or all of the Part B premium for people with limited income, and the page that sets out who qualifies has not moved to 2027. As of October 2, medicare.gov’s Medicare Savings Programs page still states monthly income and resource limits for 2026. The year-ahead question, who might qualify when coverage resets on January 1, has no posted federal answer yet.
Where the help is written down: The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit holds 51 state Medicare cost-help packs and a medication and cost tracker, a way to see a state’s version of the rules in one place.
Open the 51 state cost-help packs in The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit →
The 2026 limits medicare.gov still lists
On the Medicare Savings Programs page, the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program lists a monthly income limit of $1,350 for an individual and $1,824 for a married couple, with resource limits of $9,950 and $14,910. The Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary program lists $1,616 and $2,184 with the same resource limits, and the Qualifying Individual program $1,816 and $2,455. The Qualified Disabled and Working Individual program lists $5,405 for an individual and $7,299 for a couple, with resource limits of $4,000 and $6,000.
The page says limits are slightly higher in Alaska and Hawaii, and that people in other states may qualify even with income or resources above the federal figures. It carries no 2027 amounts.
Why the 2027 numbers are not there yet
Medicare’s Extra Help page says its limits may go up each year, and the savings programs page follows the same annual pattern, so figures for a new year are posted after the old ones are in force. Medicare’s main costs page is in the same position for the standard Part B premium: it shows $202.90 a month for 2026 and nothing for 2027. A beneficiary near a threshold therefore cannot yet tell from the federal pages whether a modest cost-of-living increase moves income across a line.
The state layer sits on top of the federal one
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services publishes the Medicaid standards that states build on. Its Informational Bulletin from December 9, 2025, covering 2026 standards effective January 1, 2026, sets the SSI federal benefit rate at $994 for an individual and $1,491 for a couple, and the SSI resource standard at $2,000 and $3,000. States use those anchors in different ways, which is why a person can meet the federal test and still need a state office to confirm.
A hypothetical near the line
Consider a hypothetical single beneficiary with $1,400 in monthly countable income and under $9,950 in resources. Against the 2026 table, that income is above the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary limit of $1,350 but below the Specified Low-Income limit of $1,616, so the person would land in a different program than someone at $1,300. Which program applies matters, because the programs differ in what they cover. With a Part B premium of $202.90 a month, or $2,434.80 a year, on the same site’s cost page, a few dollars of income can change the outcome. Whether 2027 limits will move that dividing line is exactly what the page cannot yet say.
The bulletin’s timing is worth noting. The 2026 standards were issued on December 9 of the prior year, so a comparable 2027 document would plausibly appear late in the year, though that is an inference from one data point and not a published schedule.
What the programs cover, and how the pieces combine
The four programs pay for different things. According to the same page, Qualified Medicare Beneficiary status helps pay Part A premiums for people without premium-free Part A, plus Part B premiums, deductibles, coinsurance and copayments. The Specified Low-Income and Qualifying Individual programs help with Part B premiums only, and both require enrollment in Part A and Part B. The Qualified Disabled and Working Individual program covers Part A premiums only. Applications go through the state, and the Qualifying Individual program carries two extra conditions: states approve applications first-come, first-served, and enrollees must reapply every year.
Savings program enrollment also feeds a second benefit. People in the first three programs automatically receive Medicare’s Extra Help with prescription costs, which the savings page lists as capped at $12.65 a drug in 2026. The Extra Help page itself shows 2026 limits of $23,940 in income and $18,090 in resources for an individual, and $32,460 and $36,100 for a couple. For 2027 it lists up to $5.80 for each generic drug and $14.40 for each brand-name drug. Anyone not automatically enrolled applies through the Social Security Administration.
One federal table, many state rule sets
The difficulty for a beneficiary is that the federal table is not the decision. Medicare’s page itself says people may qualify in other states even if their income or resources exceed the federal limits listed, which means the answer depends on where the person lives. Some states disregard income or assets that others count, and Alaska and Hawaii carry their own higher income limits.
Timing adds a second wrinkle. The 2027 limits are unpublished, so a person near a line has to apply under the 2026 numbers or wait, and either way the state office, not medicare.gov, makes the call. Documents that states typically ask for, such as proof of income and a list of resources, can be gathered before the new figures post.
The free official route is to contact the state Medicaid office or call 1-800-MEDICARE, and to check the medicare.gov page above for the 2027 limits once they are posted.
State rules behind the Medicare Savings Programs
The federal limits on medicare.gov are the starting line, and the programs they describe are run by each state’s own office. For a beneficiary near an income line, the unfinished job is finding out how the home state counts income and assets, and what its application asks for.
The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit contains 51 state Medicare cost-help packs alongside a medication and cost tracker, so the state steps and the running costs can be kept together.
Click here to get The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit →
AI assistance was used to draft this article, and each figure was checked against the medicare.gov and Medicaid.gov pages linked in the text.
