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

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

Colorado Medicare Savings Program at a Glance (2026)

The Three Levels of the Colorado 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.

Colorado labels: Colorado uses the standard federal names and calls the whole set the Medicare Savings Programs, or MSP.. Whatever the name, one application covers all three; the office places you at the highest level you qualify for.

Colorado 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. Colorado’s figures: Federal (QMB $1,350 / SLMB $1,616 / QI $1,816 single; $1,824 / $2,184 / $2,455 couple).

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

Colorado tests these programs using Supplemental Security Income (SSI) counting rules rather than tax-based rules, so the county looks at gross monthly income such as Social Security benefits, pensions, wages, and withdrawals, then applies the standard SSI-style disregards, including a general disregard and an added disregard for earnings.

A married applicant living with a spouse is generally measured against the couple standard, meaning the spouse’s income is counted whether one or both spouses apply. Exact disregard and limit figures are UNVERIFIED here and come from the verified data file.

Colorado does allow retroactive medical assistance in general — coverage can begin before the application month when the applicant asks for it and was eligible in those earlier months — but the rules differ by tier, so ask your county worker directly. Colorado guidance indicates QMB is not paid retroactively and instead starts prospectively once approved, while SLMB and QI can reach back to earlier months when eligibility existed.

The exact number of retroactive months is UNVERIFIED here. Premiums you paid while approval was pending may be reimbursed.

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

Colorado Medicare Savings Program and Part D Extra Help

Enrollment in any Colorado Medicare Savings Program tier automatically qualifies you for the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy, commonly called Extra Help, so no second application to Social Security is required. HCPF sends monthly “deeming” files to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services identifying Colorado QMB, SLMB, and QI-1 enrollees, and CMS then treats those people as deemed eligible for Extra Help.

In practice, approval on the state side is the trigger; you should receive Extra Help notices from Medicare afterward without filing anything else.

Colorado Prescription Help Beyond Medicare

Colorado does not run a broad state pharmaceutical assistance program for seniors generally. — Colorado runs its own drug-cost program for seniors alongside Extra Help. Ask The application is taken by Colorado’s Medicaid agency, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), which runs Health First Colorado, and it is processed locally by your county of residence’s Department of Human Services (in some counties, Department of Social Services or Human Services Department). or the SHIP whether you qualify for both.

How to Apply for the Colorado Medicare Savings Program

Where: The application is taken by Colorado’s Medicaid agency, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), which runs Health First Colorado, and it is processed locally by your county of residence’s Department of Human Services (in some counties, Department of Social Services or Human Services Department). — application. Free help: Colorado’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program is called Colorado SHIP and is housed at the Colorado Division of Insurance, part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA)..

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 Colorado 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 Colorado Medicare Savings Program Calendar

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

• Colorado Medicare Savings Programs
• The application is taken by Colorado’s Medicaid agency, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), which runs Health First Colorado, and it is processed locally by your county of residence’s Department of Human Services (in some counties, Department of Social Services or Human Services Department).
• Medicaid.gov spousal impoverishment standards: medicaid.gov
• Medicare.gov Medicare Savings Programs: medicare.gov

This Colorado 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.

Related Guides

• Colorado Medicaid Home Care
• Colorado Nursing Home Medicaid
• Medicare Costs and Premiums
• Colorado Medicare Guide
• Browse All Medicare Guides