RetirementEquation
Help paying Medicare premiums

Medicare Savings Program limits, and where states differ

Three programs — QMB, SLMB and QI — pay Medicare premiums, and QMB pays deductibles and coinsurance too. The federal income and resource limits below are a floor, not a cap: states may set higher limits, remove the asset test, and rename the programs. Screening against the federal figure alone can tell someone they do not qualify when their state says otherwise.

The federal 2026 limits

ProgramMonthly income, individualMarried coupleWhat it pays
QMB100% FPL + $20$1,350$1,824Part A and Part B premiums, plus deductibles, coinsurance and copayments
SLMB120% FPL + $20$1,616$2,184the Part B premium
QI135% FPL + $20$1,816$2,455the Part B premium
QDWI200% FPL + $20$5,405$7,299Qualified Disabled and Working Individuals, a fourth programme for people who lost premium-free Part A by returning to work. Its income limit is far higher and its resource limit far lower than the other three. We have not checked how states run it.
Resource limit$9,950$14,910Applies in states that use the federal asset test. QDWI is the exception, at $4,000 and $6,000.

Save money on your Medicare costs (CMS Product No. 12132), April 2026, and POMS HI 00815.023: Medicare Savings Programs income and resource limits, TN 64, February 2026. Federal screening limits are the poverty guideline plus the $20 monthly general income disregard. CMS rounds up to the nearest dollar when computing the monthly income limits, which is why some state tables show $1,803 where others show $1,804.

Alaska and Hawaii are not on this table

Alaska and Hawaii have their own poverty guidelines, so the federal MSP limits there are higher than the figures above, which apply to the other 48 states and the District of Columbia. For QMB the limit for one person is $1,683 in Alaska and $1,550 in Hawaii, against $1,350 elsewhere. Each programme page carries all three.

What each jurisdiction publishes

All 51 jurisdictions — the fifty states and the District of Columbia — checked against their own Medicaid agency. Every figure below links to the agency page it came from. Highlighted rows are the 18 whose limits admit people the federal figure would screen out.

District of Columbia, Kansas, South Dakota and West Virginia appear with a blank in at least one cell on purpose. Each runs the programs but publishes no 2026 dollars we could reach: some print only percentages, some still show last year’s poverty guideline, and the District publishes a QMB figure and nothing for the other two. Carrying any of those forward would produce a number that looks current and is not.

StateQMB income, individualvs federalAsset limit, one / twoEffectiveNotes
Alabama$1,350100%noneFebruary 2026The figure includes the $20 disregard.
Alaska$1,66399%$9,950 / $14,9101 April 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard. Alaska runs on its own poverty guideline, so its figures are higher than the mainland ones without being more generous. Its standards table prints the bare guideline; the state health department separately quotes a ceiling that includes the $20.
Arizona$1,33099%not publishedincome 1 February 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard. AHCCCS does not print an MSP resource limit on the pages we read, so the asset column is blank rather than filled in with the federal figure.
Arkansas$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,9102026 quick reference chartSLMB is called SMB. The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
California$1,33099%$130,000 / $195,0002026 (Jan 1 or Mar 1 depending on Title II receipt)The disregard treatment is not stated. The couple figure is the individual limit plus one additional household member, as the quoted rule describes. California’s table carries a footnote saying the limits "include amounts that will not be counted when deducted", which points the opposite way from the printed figure matching the bare poverty guideline. Because the state says something rather than nothing, and what it says is unclear, this is recorded as unstated rather than as excluding the $20.
Colorado$1,350100%$11,450 / $17,910resources 1 January 2026The figure includes the $20 disregard. Colorado raises the resource limit above the federal figure. Its public-facing MSP page still showed the 2025 amounts when we read it, so these come from the operational memo.
Connecticut$2,807208%none1 March 2026QI is called ALMB (Additional Low Income Medicare Beneficiaries). The disregard treatment is not stated.
Delaware$1,33099%none2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
District of Columbia$4,010297%not published2026 figures as at 16 January 2026The figure includes the $20 disregard. The District is not a state, and it screens QMB at 300% of the poverty guideline — by a wide margin the highest limit anywhere in the country. No resource limit appears on its QMB pages, so the asset column is blank rather than assumed.
Florida$1,34299%$9,950 / $14,910January 2026 (interim)The disregard treatment is not stated.
Georgia$1,350100%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 March 2026The figure includes the $20 disregard.
Hawaii$1,53099%$9,950 / $14,91013 January 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard. Hawaii runs on its own poverty guideline. Its chart prints the bare figure, $20 below the screening limit Social Security publishes for Hawaii.
Idaho$1,350100%$9,950 / $14,910January 2026SLMB is called SLMB I. The figure includes the $20 disregard.
Illinois$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,9102026 (WAG 25-03-02)SLMB is called SLIB. The figure excludes the $20 disregard. Illinois applies a $25 disregard of its own, larger than the $20 federal one, and its published table shows neither. Illinois prints an explicit QI band of $1,596 to $1,794, so that ceiling is the state’s own figure. Its SLMB band has no printed top, so the figure shown is the bound the rule describes.
Indiana$2,015149%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 March 2026; resources 1 January 2026The figure includes the $20 disregard. Indiana sets its own income ceilings well above the federal ones. The policy manual prints net standards $20 lower than these consumer figures; the difference is the $20 disregard. Indiana files these as aid categories MA L, MA J and MA I, which is what a caseworker sees, but the programs keep their federal names publicly.
Iowa$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 April 2026QI is called E-SLMB. The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Kansas———not established for 2026SLMB is called LMB. QI is called ELMB. The disregard treatment is not stated. The manual sets the limits as percentages of the poverty guideline but its 2026 dollar schedule was not reachable, so the figures are blank rather than guessed.
Kentucky$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,9102026 fact sheetThe figure excludes the $20 disregard. Kentucky’s own fact sheet contradicts itself: the figures are the bare poverty guideline, but a footnote says the $20 disregard is already included.
Louisiana$1,33099%noneincome 1 March 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Maine$2,460derived, see note182%noneexpansion effective 1 July 2024, current for 2026SLMB is absorbed into the other programs. The disregard treatment is not stated. The dollar figures here are ours, not Maine’s: the statute sets percentages and no 2026 dollar chart was published.
Maryland$1,350100%$9,950 / $14,910schedules 1 January 2026QI is called SLMB II. The figure includes the $20 disregard.
Massachusetts$2,527187%noneincome 1 March 2026The disregard treatment is not stated. MassHealth runs SLMB and QI as one benefit tier reaching 225% of the poverty guideline.
Michigan$1,350100%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 April 2026; assets 1 January 2026SLMB is called SLM. QI is called ALMB. The figure includes the $20 disregard.
Minnesota$1,350100%$10,000 / $18,0001 July 2026 to 30 June 2027SLMB is called Service Limited Medicare Beneficiaries. The figure includes the $20 disregard. The individual asset limit is barely above federal, but the limit for two is $18,000 against $14,910 — a fifth higher.
Mississippi$1,33099%none1 March 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Missouri$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 April 2026; resources 1 January 2026SLMB is called SLMB1. QI is called SLMB2. The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Montana$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 April 2026; resources 1 January 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Nebraska$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,9101 January 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Nevada$1,33099%—2026 income chartThe figure excludes the $20 disregard. Nevada keeps a resource test, but the 2026 dollars were not published where we could reach them — its manual still shows the prior year’s amounts.
New Hampshire$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 March 2026; resources 1 January 2026QI is called SLMB135. The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
New Jersey$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,9102026The figure excludes the $20 disregard. New Jersey publishes annual figures; the monthly limits here are those divided by twelve.
New Mexico$1,33099%none1 April 2026SLMB is called SLIMB. The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
New York$1,856137%none2026SLMB is absorbed into the other programs. The figure includes the $20 disregard. Full Medicaid for dual eligibles still carries a resource limit in New York ($33,038 for one person). That is a different programme from the savings programmes on this page, which have none.
North Carolina$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,9101 April 2026QMB is called MQB-Q. SLMB is called MQB-B. QI is called MQB-E. The figure excludes the $20 disregard. Two North Carolina documents disagree on the reserve limit: DHB-5179 shows $9,950 and MA-2252 shows $9,650. We show $9,950, which matches the federal 2026 figure.
North Dakota$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 April 2026; assets 1 January 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Ohio$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 March 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard. Ohio calls these the Medicare Premium Assistance Programs. Its rule adopts the federal resource limit by reference rather than reprinting the dollars.
Oklahoma$1,350100%$9,950 / $14,9101 July 2026QMB is called QMBP. The figure includes the $20 disregard.
Oregon$1,33099%noneMarch 2026 to February 2027SLMB is called SMB. QI is called SMF. The figure excludes the $20 disregard. Two Oregon agencies disagree: ODHS prints $1,330 and the state SHIBA counselling programme prints $1,350. We show the Medicaid agency figure.
Pennsylvania$1,350100%$9,950 / $14,9102026 figures on the DHS tablesQMB is called Healthy Horizons-Medicare Cost-Sharing. The figure includes the $20 disregard. The column header still reads 2025, but the dollars are the 2026 poverty guideline plus $20.
Rhode Island$1,683125%$9,950 / $14,9101 February 2026SLMB is absorbed into the other programs. The disregard treatment is not stated. Rhode Island moved its SLMB population up into QMB in February 2026, so the same income now buys the wider benefit.
South Carolina$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 March 2026; resources 1 January 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard. The resource column on the SLMB and QI table is still labelled 2025, though the amounts match the 2026 federal figures.
South Dakota——$9,950 / $14,9102026The figure includes the $20 disregard. The state brochure gives one screening figure, the QI ceiling, rather than a limit per programme. Someone under the QMB limit reading it would not learn that they qualify for more.
Tennessee$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,9102026, though the guide carries no date stampThe figure excludes the $20 disregard. TennCare gives the savings-programme rows as percentages only; the dollars here come from the poverty-guideline table in the same document.
Texas$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 March 2026; resources 1 January 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Utah$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,9101 March 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard. Utah files the three programmes under the heading Medicare Cost-Sharing rather than Medicare Savings Programs.
Vermont$1,995148%none2026The disregard treatment is not stated. Vermont closed SLMB outright at the end of 2025 rather than absorbing it quietly, and screens QMB at 150% of the poverty guideline with no resource test.
Virginia$1,350100%$9,950 / $14,9102026 guidelines as at 13 January 2026SLMB is called Special Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary. The figure includes the $20 disregard. Virginia publishes both conventions: the CoverVA flyer adds the $20, while the Cardinal Care fact sheet and the eligibility manual print the bare guideline. We show the flyer figures.
Washington$1,483110%noneincome 1 April 2026The disregard treatment is not stated. Washington raises QMB to 110% and QI to 138%, but leaves SLMB at 120% — so its QMB and SLMB bands are only ten points apart.
West Virginia———not established for 2026SLMB is called SLIMB. The disregard treatment is not stated. The state brochure still shows the 2025 poverty guideline. Carrying those forward as 2026 would be wrong, so the figures are blank.
Wisconsin$1,33099%$9,950 / $14,910income 1 February 2026; assets 1 January 2026QI is called SLMB+. The figure excludes the $20 disregard.
Wyoming$1,33099%—2026; Table 1 effective 1 April 2026The figure excludes the $20 disregard. Wyoming requires resources within a maximum standard but the 2026 dollar amounts were not on the page we could reach.

Each state name links to the agency page its figures came from. Where a state publishes a band rather than a single limit, the figure shown is the top of the band. The vs federal column compares against the federal screening limit of $1,350, which already includes the $20 disregard, so it will not match a state’s own percentage of the poverty guideline — Massachusetts screens at 190% of the guideline and lands at 187% by this column.

Why a naive comparison is wrong

The $20 disregard

States do not publish these figures the same way. Some bake the $20 monthly general income disregard into the number they print and some do not, so two states with identical policy can show figures $20 apart. Where we know which convention a state used, the table says so.

Across all 51 jurisdictions, 27 print the bare poverty guideline, 14 print it with the $20 already added, and 10 do not say which they have done. Texas and Ohio both publish $1,330 against a federal screening figure of $1,350. Neither is stricter than federal: both state the guideline without the disregard, which is applied separately. Reading those tables as equivalent to the federal number understates both by $20 a month.

Names are the second trap. 23 of the 51 run at least one of these programs under a different name, or do not run it as a separate program at all:

  • Arkansas — SLMB is SMB
  • Connecticut — QI is ALMB (Additional Low Income Medicare Beneficiaries)
  • Idaho — SLMB is SLMB I
  • Illinois — SLMB is SLIB
  • Iowa — QI is E-SLMB
  • Kansas — SLMB is LMB; QI is ELMB
  • Maine — no separate SLMB
  • Maryland — QI is SLMB II
  • Michigan — SLMB is SLM; QI is ALMB
  • Minnesota — SLMB is Service Limited Medicare Beneficiaries
  • Missouri — SLMB is SLMB1; QI is SLMB2
  • New Hampshire — QI is SLMB135
  • New Mexico — SLMB is SLIMB
  • New York — no separate SLMB
  • North Carolina — QMB is MQB-Q; SLMB is MQB-B; QI is MQB-E
  • Oklahoma — QMB is QMBP
  • Oregon — SLMB is SMB; QI is SMF
  • Pennsylvania — QMB is Healthy Horizons-Medicare Cost-Sharing
  • Rhode Island — no separate SLMB
  • Vermont —
  • Virginia — SLMB is Special Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary
  • West Virginia — SLMB is SLIMB
  • Wisconsin — QI is SLMB+

Someone searching a state site for “SLMB” or “QI” in those states finds nothing, and may conclude the program does not exist there.

The states that set their own limits

18 of the 51 depart from the federal baseline in a way that changes who qualifies — a higher income ceiling, a higher asset limit, or no asset test at all:

  • Alabama — QMB income limit $1,350 a month. The resource limits do not apply for the Medicare Savings Program.
  • California — QMB income limit $1,330 a month. Asset limit $130,000 for one and $195,000 for two, against $9,950 and $14,910 federal. California in detail.
  • Colorado — QMB income limit $1,350 a month. Asset limit $11,450 for one and $17,910 for two, against $9,950 and $14,910 federal. Colorado in detail.
  • Connecticut — QMB income limit $2,807 a month, 208% of the federal figure. Connecticut does not have an asset limit for Medicare Savings Programs.
  • Delaware — QMB income limit $1,330 a month. Your assets are not considered.
  • District of Columbia — QMB income limit $4,010 a month, 297% of the federal figure.
  • Indiana — QMB income limit $2,015 a month, 149% of the federal figure. Indiana in detail.
  • Louisiana — QMB income limit $1,330 a month. Assets, such as homes, bank accounts and stocks, are not counted for QMB, SLMB & QI.
  • Maine — QMB income limit $2,460 a month, 182% of the federal figure. The department may not apply an asset test in determining eligibility for the program. 185% of the 2026 poverty guideline. Maine sets the limit in statute as a percentage and publishes no 2026 dollar table.
  • Massachusetts — QMB income limit $2,527 a month, 187% of the federal figure. As of March 1, 2024, there is no asset limit for MSPs. Massachusetts in detail.
  • Minnesota — QMB income limit $1,350 a month. Asset limit $10,000 for one and $18,000 for two, against $9,950 and $14,910 federal.
  • Mississippi — QMB income limit $1,330 a month. It does not matter what your resources are. There is no resource test.
  • New Mexico — QMB income limit $1,330 a month. Resource guidelines no longer apply to the MSP categories.
  • New York — QMB income limit $1,856 a month, 137% of the federal figure. New York does not apply an asset limit to the Medicare Savings Programs. New York in detail.
  • Oregon — QMB income limit $1,330 a month. There are no asset limits for these programs in Oregon.
  • Rhode Island — QMB income limit $1,683 a month, 125% of the federal figure.
  • Vermont — QMB income limit $1,995 a month, 148% of the federal figure. There is no resource limit for the QMB and QI programs.
  • Washington — QMB income limit $1,483 a month, 110% of the federal figure. There are no asset tests for MSPs.

The gap is not marginal. Massachusetts screens at 190% of the poverty guideline where the federal figure is 100%, and applies no asset test — so someone with $2,526 a month and savings well above $9,950 is inside the Massachusetts limit and outside the federal one. The same income and savings in a state that follows the federal rule qualifies for nothing.

How to apply, and what this page is

Applications go through the state Medicaid agency, not through this site. Each state name in the table above links to the agency page its figures came from. Free, unbiased help is available from a State Health Insurance Assistance Program counsellor at shiphelp.org, and Social Security is on 1-800-772-1213.

What this page is

Published limits, each traced to the agency that published it. It is not advice, not an eligibility determination, and not a substitute for applying — the state Medicaid agency decides. Limits change, and several of these carry effective dates part-way through 2026. If a figure here does not match the agency page it links to, tell us and we will correct it.