Guides

Longer explanations, written to be read out loud. Each one ends with the questions people ask us most.

Written and checked by Jason Burns, Editorial Steward

• Prescription and medication costs

  If your medicines cost more than you can pay, there are four separate places to look: Extra Help from Social Security, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan that spreads your costs over the year, your state's own drug assistance program, and the drug maker's own patient program. Most people who qualify for Extra Help have never applied for it. Each one is free to apply for.

• Lowering your Medicare costs

  Medicare is not free, but four programs can cut what you pay: a Medicare Savings Program can pay your Part B premium outright, Extra Help lowers drug costs, SHIP gives you free one-on-one counseling, and Senior Medicare Patrol helps you fight a bill that looks wrong. Millions of people who qualify for a Medicare Savings Program are not enrolled in one.

• Help with food

  Four separate food programs serve older adults, and you can use more than one at the same time: SNAP puts money on a card you use at the grocery store, the CSFP senior food box gives you a monthly box of staples, Meals on Wheels brings hot meals to your door, and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program gives you coupons for fresh produce. Older households have special SNAP rules that raise the benefit.

• Help with utilities and home energy

  Help with a utility bill comes from four different places: LIHEAP pays part of your heating or cooling bill, the Weatherization Assistance Program fixes the house so the bill goes down for good, your utility's own hardship fund and medical protections can stop a shut-off, and separate local programs help with water and sewer. LIHEAP money is limited each year and often runs out, so the date you apply matters.

• Medical bills and hospital debt

  A hospital bill you cannot afford is often not a bill you have to pay in full, because nonprofit hospitals are required by federal tax law to have a written financial assistance policy and to tell patients about it. Charity care can erase a bill even after it has gone to collections, and separate copay foundations help with drug costs. Asking is free and does not affect your care.

• Help staying in your home

  Staying put usually costs less than moving, and four kinds of help make it possible: USDA repair grants for homeowners 62 and older in rural areas, HUD Section 202 apartments built only for older adults, senior property tax relief in nearly every state, and free or low-cost home modifications like grab bars and ramps. Most of these are applied for locally, not online.

• Caregiving and help at home

  Help at home is paid for by a different system than hospital care, and the main door is Medicaid home and community-based services, which in most states can pay a family member to provide that care. Other doors include PACE, which wraps all your care into one program, the National Family Caregiver Support Program for respite, and the GUIDE model for families living with dementia. Every one of these is decided state by state.

• Money you may already be owed

  Some money is not a benefit you apply for so much as money already sitting in your name that nobody will send until you ask: Social Security on a former spouse's record, survivor benefits after a husband or wife dies, benefits unlocked by the Social Security Fairness Act, unclaimed property held by your state, and forgotten pensions held by the federal pension agency. None of these agencies will come looking for you.