Medicare Savings Programs in Colorado
Colorado's income limits follow the federal pattern exactly, including the $20 disregard: $1,350 a month for QMB. Its resource limits do not. At $11,450 for one person and $17,910 for two, against a federal $9,950 and $14,910, Colorado lets an applicant hold roughly fifteen per cent more before being screened out.
What Colorado publishes for 2026
| Programme | One person | Married couple | Federal figure | vs federal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QMB100% FPL | $1,350 | $1,824 | $1,350 | 100% |
| SLMB120% FPL | $1,616 | $2,184 | $1,616 | 100% |
| QI135% FPL | $1,816 | $2,455 | $1,816 | 100% |
| Resource limit | $11,450 | $17,910 | $9,950 | 115% |
Effective resources 1 January 2026. Source: HCPF OM 25-078: 2026 increase to resource limits, Medicare Savings Programs and Low-Income Subsidy, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. These figures already include the $20 monthly general income disregard.
Where these figures come from, and why not from the obvious page
The figures above are from operational memo OM 25-078 and the April 2026 desk aid, not from the state's public Medicare Savings Programs page. When we read that page it still showed the 2025 resource limits.
We are flagging this rather than quietly using the better source, because it has a consequence for anyone checking our work: if you open the Colorado page linked below and see different resource figures from the ones here, that is the reason, and the operational memo is the one the eligibility determination follows.
The burial-expense detail inside the limit
Colorado's memo notes that the stated resource limits already incorporate an allowance for burial expenses. That is unusual enough to mention: in states that follow the federal figure, a burial fund is generally handled as a separate exclusion rather than folded into the headline number.
How Colorado compares with the rest of the country
This is the part a state agency page cannot tell you, because it has only its own figures. We hold all 51.
- Income. Colorado’s QMB limit of $1,350 is the 11th highest of the 46 jurisdictions publishing a comparable figure, at 100% of the federal screening limit. The highest is the District of Columbia at $4,010; most states sit at $1,350 or the bare $1,330 beneath it.
- Resources. Colorado is one of only 3 jurisdictions with a resource limit above the federal figure — the others being California and Minnesota — while 12 apply no resource test at all.
The full table of all 51 carries every figure with the agency page it came from.
What qualifying is worth beyond the premium
All three programmes carry full Extra Help for Part D automatically — federal regulation treats anyone eligible for QMB, SLMB or QI as a full-subsidy individual, with no separate application. And the Part D late enrollment penalty, which is otherwise permanent, is not charged while someone is subsidy-eligible. Qualifying in Colorado therefore stops a penalty being charged for as long as the eligibility lasts — a waiver for that period rather than a cancellation, since a later gap in coverage without Extra Help can bring one back.
How to apply in Colorado
Applications go to your county Department of Human Services — not to Medicare, and not to this site. Applying for Extra Help through Social Security also starts a savings-programme application with the state unless you ask it not to. Free, unbiased help is available from a State Health Insurance Assistance Program counsellor at shiphelp.org.
Even if the individual’s income or resources appear somewhat higher than the state limits, encourage them to apply for the MSPs.
Colorado’s published limits, traced to the agency that published them. It is not advice, not an eligibility determination, and not a substitute for applying — Colorado decides. Limits change, and these carry an effective date of resources 1 January 2026. If a figure here does not match the agency page it links to, tell us and we will correct it.