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

The Alaska 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 Alaska Medicaid, not by Medicare, and roughly one in three people who qualify never apply. This Alaska medicare savings program guide gives the 2026 limits as Alaska 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 Alaska’s own rules; they reset each spring when the new guidelines take effect.

Alaska Medicare Savings Program at a Glance (2026)

The Three Levels of the Alaska 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.

Alaska labels: Alaska uses the standard federal tiers but with one local naming quirk.. Whatever the name, one application covers all three; the office places you at the highest level you qualify for.

Alaska 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. Alaska’s figures: QMB $1,683 / SLMB $2,015 / QI $2,265 (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.

Alaska measures “countable income,” which is total gross income reduced by the disregards allowed under the state’s Adult Public Assistance rules, the same SSI-based methodology used for Alaska’s aged and disabled Medicaid categories. SSI payments and Adult Public Assistance payments themselves are not counted as income.

When one member of a married couple applies and the other is not eligible, Alaska applies SSI spousal deeming rules, so the non-applying spouse’s income is treated as partly available to the applicant and the household-of-two standard is used.

Alaska treats the three Medicare Savings levels differently, which surprises families. QMB coverage does not reach backward at all — it starts at the beginning of the month following the month DPA actually makes the eligibility decision, so someone who applies late in a month may wait before QMB takes effect.

SLMB and SLMB Plus are more generous: benefits can begin with the month of application, and an applicant may ask DPA for retroactive coverage for a limited number of earlier months. SLMB Plus backdating cannot cross into a prior calendar year.

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 Alaska SHIP. This one protection is worth more than the premium for anyone with regular hospital or specialist care.

Alaska Medicare Savings Program and Part D Extra Help

Enrolling in any Alaska Medicare Savings Program automatically qualifies the person for Medicare Part D Extra Help, also called the Low-Income Subsidy. No separate Extra Help application is required once DPA approves QMB, SLMB, or SLMB Plus; the state reports the enrollment and Social Security applies the subsidy.

The connection also runs the other direction: when a resident files an Extra Help application with the Social Security Administration, that filing generates an electronic referral to the Division of Public Assistance, which then sends the person an application for the Medicare Savings Programs.

Alaska Prescription Help Beyond Medicare

NONE. Alaska does not operate a state pharmaceutical assistance program (SPAP) of the kind that wraps around Medicare Part D. — Alaska runs its own drug-cost program for seniors alongside Extra Help. Ask Applications are taken by the Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance (DPA) — not by Medicare or Social Security. or the SHIP whether you qualify for both.

How to Apply for the Alaska Medicare Savings Program

Where: Applications are taken by the Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance (DPA) — not by Medicare or Social Security. — application. Free help: Alaska’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) operates as the Medicare Information Office within the Division of Senior and Disabilities Services..

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 Alaska 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 Alaska Medicare Savings Program Calendar

New federal poverty guidelines are published in January or February; states adopt the new Alaska 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 Alaska 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 Alaska 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 Alaska 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 Alaska 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

• Alaska Medicare Savings Programs: https://health.alaska.gov/en/services/extra-help-on-medicare-drug-costs/
• Applications are taken by the Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance (DPA) — not by Medicare or Social Security.
• Medicaid.gov spousal impoverishment standards: medicaid.gov
• Medicare.gov Medicare Savings Programs: medicare.gov

This Alaska 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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