Indiana Medicare Savings Program 2026: QMB, SLMB and QI Limits

The Indiana Medicare Savings Program pays your Medicare Part B premium — $202.90 a month in 2026 — and at the top level pays your deductibles and copays too. It is run by Indiana Medicaid, not by Medicare, and roughly one in three people who qualify never apply. This Indiana medicare savings program guide gives the 2026 limits as Indiana applies them, the asset rule, how it triggers Part D Extra Help, and where to apply.

Limits below are from the National Council on Aging’s 2026 table built on the federal poverty guidelines, checked against Indiana’s own rules; they reset each spring when the new guidelines take effect.

Indiana Medicare Savings Program at a Glance (2026)

The Three Levels of the Indiana Medicare Savings Program

• QMB (Qualified Medicare Beneficiary): pays the Part A and Part B premiums and the deductibles, coinsurance and copays. Providers who take Medicare may not bill a QMB enrollee for Medicare cost-sharing at all.
• SLMB (Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary): pays the Part B premium only.
• QI (Qualifying Individual): also pays the Part B premium only, with a slightly higher income limit; funding is capped and first-come, first-served each year.

Indiana labels: Indiana uses the standard federal names for all three levels rather than state-specific labels.. Whatever the name, one application covers all three; the office places you at the highest level you qualify for.

Indiana Medicare Savings Program Income and Asset Limits

The federal floors for a single person in 2026 are $1,350 a month for QMB, $1,616 for SLMB and $1,816 for QI, each including a $20 disregard. Indiana’s figures: QMB $2,015 / SLMB $2,281 / QI $2,481 (single).

Assets: Federal ($9,950 single / $14,910 couple). The home, one vehicle, household goods and burial funds up to $1,500 do not count.

Indiana determines Medicare Savings Program income using the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) counting rules rather than the tax-based rules used for regular Medicaid. That means most Social Security, pension, wage, and interest income counts, but certain amounts are set aside before the state compares your income to the standard, including a general disregard and a further disregard applied to earnings from work.

If you live with a spouse, the state normally looks at the couple’s combined income and compares it against the couple’s figure. Exact disregard amounts: UNVERIFIED.

Indiana does grant some backdating, but it works differently by program level. QMB is treated the way federal law requires: it is not retroactive, and coverage begins the month after DFR approves the application, so bills from before that point are generally not picked up.

SLMB and QI can be approved for months before the application date if the person already met the rules in those months, which can produce a refund of Part B premiums that were withheld. The exact number of prior months allowed: UNVERIFIED.

The QMB Billing Protection Most People Never Use

Federal law forbids any provider who accepts Medicare from billing a QMB enrollee for Medicare deductibles, coinsurance or copays. If a bill arrives, the enrollee does not owe it. Show the QMB card, cite the rule, and if it continues report it to 1-800-MEDICARE or the Indiana SHIP. This one protection is worth more than the premium for anyone with regular hospital or specialist care.

Indiana Medicare Savings Program and Part D Extra Help

Being approved for any of the three Indiana Medicare Savings Programs automatically makes you eligible for the Medicare Part D low-income subsidy, commonly called Extra Help. You do not file a separate Extra Help application in Indiana.

FSSA reports approved QMB, SLMB, and QI enrollees to the federal government each month, Social Security and the Medicare program record the person as “deemed” eligible, and a notice arrives by mail confirming the drug-cost help. If you already applied to Social Security for Extra Help separately, that application simply becomes unnecessary.

Indiana Prescription Help Beyond Medicare

Yes. Indiana runs a state pharmaceutical assistance program called HoosierRx, administered by the Family and Social Services Administration through Indiana Medicaid. — Indiana runs its own drug-cost program for seniors alongside Extra Help. Ask The application is taken by the state Medicaid agency, not by Medicare or Social Security. or the SHIP whether you qualify for both.

How to Apply for the Indiana Medicare Savings Program

Where: The application is taken by the state Medicaid agency, not by Medicare or Social Security. — application. Free help: Indiana’s free Medicare counseling service is called SHIP, the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, and it is housed at the Indiana Department of Insurance rather than at the Medicaid agency..

Bring the Medicare card, proof of all income, and — in states with an asset test — bank statements. A decision usually takes a few weeks; the Part B premium refund appears as a larger Social Security deposit once the change reaches Social Security.

Who Typically Qualifies for the Indiana Medicare Savings Program

A widow living on one Social Security check. A retired couple whose combined income is modest once one pension stopped. A person under 65 on Medicare through disability. Anyone who receives Supplemental Security Income already qualifies at the top level. Homeowners qualify as easily as renters, because the home is never counted, and in the states without an asset test savings are not counted either.

The Indiana Medicare Savings Program Calendar

New federal poverty guidelines are published in January or February; states adopt the new Indiana medicare savings program limits in the weeks after, usually by March or April. A person who was just over the limit in December may be under it in April without their income changing. The Part B premium itself changes each January, so the value of the program rises with it. QI funding is allocated by calendar year and can run out; apply early rather than late.

If the Indiana Medicare Savings Program Application Is Denied

The denial notice states the reason and the deadline to ask for a hearing. The three fixable reasons are missing proof of income, income counted that should have been excluded, and — in asset-test states — a burial fund or life insurance that should not have been counted. Fix the reason and reapply; nothing prevents a second application. The state SHIP will review a denial for free.

The Indiana Medicare Savings Program Versus Full Medicaid

The program pays Medicare costs; it does not make you a Medicaid patient. You keep your doctors, your Medicare card and your plan. Full Medicaid, with its lower income limit, adds coverage Medicare does not have — long-term care above all. Many people qualify for the Indiana medicare savings program first and for full Medicaid only later, when care needs and costs rise. The two applications go to the same office.

What to Do Next

If you qualify for an Indiana medicare savings program, apply before you shop for plans: the premium help changes which Medigap or Advantage plan makes sense. Your SHIP counselor can do both in one visit.

Official Sources

• Indiana Medicare Savings Programs
• The application is taken by the state Medicaid agency, not by Medicare or Social Security.
• Medicaid.gov spousal impoverishment standards: medicaid.gov
• Medicare.gov Medicare Savings Programs: medicare.gov

This Indiana medicare savings program guide was checked against the state Medicaid agency, CMS and the statute cited above in September 2026. Figures reset on their own calendars (most on January 1); if a number here disagrees with a notice you received, the notice wins — and please tell us. This page is general information, not legal, financial or medical advice.

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