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- 2009 Extra Help Eligibility and Subsidy Charts
- 2009 Extra Help Loss of Deemed Status and Change of Extra Help Level
- 2009 Medicare Savings Programs Eligibility and Benefits Chart
- 2009 Plan Reassignment
2009 Extra Help Eligibility and Subsidy Chart
This chart is a compilation of the financial eligibility criteria and corresponding levels of Extra Help subsidies for 2009. When the 2009 federal poverty levels are announced in January 2009 we will update the chart.
Medicare Savings Program Eligibility and Benefits
This chart describes the financial eligibility criteria and the benefits of the Medicare Savings Programs eligibility for 2008. It contains the most up-to-date numbers available. As soon as the 2009 Federal Poverty Levels are announced, this chart will get updated. Medicare Savings Program applications submitted in January 2009 are re-evaluated as needed, using the updated income eligibility levels.
2008 Extra Help Loss of Deemed Status (October 2, 2008)
The data on the numbers of people losing Extra Help in 2009 was released on October 2, 2008. Click here for the data on people losing their deemed status for Extra Help, by zip code, county and state. You can also explore the CMS Question and Answer document about those losing their deemed status for Extra Help.
Read More About The Process of Redeeming and Redetermination and the Notices Sent by CMS and SSA.
2009 Plan Reassignment
The reassignment and "Chooser" data are public!
Find out how many people with Extra Help in your community are being reassigned to new plans and how many "Choosers", received tan letters telling them that their 2008 plans will have premiums above the low-income benchm,ark or will be come enhanced plans in 2009.
Choosers are full Extra Help beneficiaries who joined a plan on their own rather than staying in the plan CMS picked for them. "Choosers" will not be reassigned, so they will pay a portion of their plan premium in 2009 if they remain in their plan in 2009. Nevertheless, this may be their best option.
"Choosers" must carefully research their current plan cost and formulary to determine whether it makes sense for them to remain in their current plan, perhaps because the formulary in 2009 will cover their prescriptions, or to switch to a standard plan with a premium below the low-income benchmark, in which they will not pay a premium because it will be covered by their Extra Help. While they won't pay a premium in a standard plan with a premium at or below the low-income benchmark, they should review the formularies of those plans to make sure the drugs they take are covered for the strength and dose they have been prescribed.
For more information about the options open to full Extra Help beneficiaries being reassigned and to "Choosers", click here and check out November on the expanded enrollment season calendar.
For more information about standard and enhanced Part D plans click here.
