Leverage Medicare Extra Help
Another way to get help with procuring your prescription is by tapping into Medicare’s Extra Help package. This plan could be worth $5,000 annually.
Of course, there are eligibility criteria to be fulfilled before you enjoy this program. Generally, you must be resident in the 50 States of the United States or staying in the District of California.
Proof of being financially constrained is mandatory too. Also, you must be receiving Medicare before you can tap into the Extra Help package. So what precisely are the financial constraints criteria?
Your annual income must be below $19,380 as a single or $26,100 as a couple before you can apply for Exta Help. Take note that the income margins are higher in Hawaii and Alaska. You can readily apply for Medicare’s Extra Help online at NCOA’s BenefitsCheckUp or via Social Security.
Should you choose to use Social Security, it is worth reckoning that Social Security’s field offices are closed due to the pandemic.
Therefore, you may not get a letter confirming your successful admission into the Extra Help program soon enough after applying.
Within this period of waiting for approval to enter the Extra Help program, you can be procuring your prescription drugs via the LI NET program at a significantly lesser cost.
Take note that if you are already enrolled in a Medicare Savings Program (MSP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or Medicaid, you enjoy automatic qualification for Extra Help. This qualification holds irrespective of you fulfilling the eligibility criteria for Extra Help.
In the event where Medicare’s Extra Help is out of your reach, you can resort to other programs like the Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs). PAPs give you discounts for brand-name medications (or even for free) when you procure them directly from the manufacturer.