Many of the millions of low-income older adults and people with disabilities who are eligible for Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) don’t know about them or how to apply. These programs help pay for Medicare premiums and other out-of-pocket expenses, providing crucial assistance to those who may be struggling to make ends meet. To get the word out about these vital programs, we teamed up with AARP New York to contribute to a report by Professor Teresa Ghilarducci of The New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.

The report also highlights the importance of data matching, which is using existing information from other programs like Medicaid to automatically enroll people in MSPs. Further illustrating the effectiveness of data matching, help was expanded to an additional 82,000 Medicare-eligible individuals in New York State in February 2023. These individuals were identified by having Medicaid and were enrolled in the MSP in a move Medicare Rights has long held as a priority. This guarantees that over $13 million in Part B premium payments will arrive directly in beneficiaries’ Social Security deposits every month.

We’re also excited to share some more good news from New York, where MSP income limits have increased this year. Thanks to our outreach efforts and dedicated staff and counselors, we have helped more than twice as many clients apply for MSPs this year compared to last year.

At Medicare Rights, we believe every person with Medicare deserves access to affordable health care. That’s why we urge all states to follow New York’s example and make it easier for people to enroll in MSPs.

Learn more ways to improve the MSP by reading our fact sheet Protect and Strengthen Medicare: Improving Medicare Savings Programs.