Medicare Part D

Extra Help in Glenview: a Medicare Part D cost program

GLENVIEW, Ill. — If prescription costs are one of the harder pieces of your monthly budget, there is a Medicare program worth a closer look. It is called Extra Help, and for people with limited income and savings, it can significantly lower what you pay for Part D drug coverage.

Extra Help, also known as the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), has been around for years — but Social Security expanded who qualifies in 2024, and those broader rules still apply heading into 2027. Many people who once made "just a little too much" to qualify now do.

What Extra Help actually does

Extra Help is a federal program run by the Social Security Administration and Medicare. If you qualify, it can:

• Pay part or all of your Part D monthly premium (up to a benchmark amount).
• Lower or eliminate your Part D deductible.
• Cap what you pay for covered generic and brand-name drugs at the pharmacy.
• Remove the late enrollment penalty if you did not sign up for Part D on time.

According to Medicare, people with full Extra Help pay no more than a few dollars per prescription for covered drugs. That protection sits on top of the broader Part D changes now in effect for everyone.

What's new for 2027 Part D — for everyone

Extra Help does not exist in a vacuum. The Part D program itself has changed in ways that matter:

• A Part D out-of-pocket cap of $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027 on covered drugs. Once you hit it, you pay nothing for covered prescriptions the rest of the year.
• A maximum Part D deductible of $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• No more "donut hole." As of 2025, the coverage gap phase was eliminated, leaving three simpler phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets anyone with Part D spread drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the counter.

Extra Help stacks on top of these protections for people who qualify.

Who qualifies for 2027

Social Security uses two tests: income and resources. The exact figures update each year, but as a general guide based on current CMS and SSA rules:

• Income: generally up to 150% of the federal poverty level. For a single person, that is roughly around $23,000 a year; for a married couple living together, roughly around $31,000. Some income, like a portion of earnings, is not counted.
• Resources: things like money in checking, savings, stocks, and bonds — generally under about $17,600 for an individual and about $35,130 for a couple in 2025 figures. Your home, one car, burial plots, and personal belongings do not count.

You may automatically get Extra Help if you have Medicare and also:

• Have full Medicaid,
• Get help from a Medicare Savings Program to pay Part B premiums, or
• Receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

If you are not automatic, you can apply anytime — there is no enrollment window for Extra Help itself.

How Glenview residents can apply

Glenview is in Cook County, which has a wide range of stand-alone Part D drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage. For 2027, Cook County has 58 Medicare Advantage plans from 11 carriers. Extra Help works with those plans; it is not a plan of its own.

To apply:

1. Online: ssa.gov/extrahelp 2. By phone: Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 3. In person: at your local Social Security office 4. Free local help: Illinois' State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), called SHIP Illinois, offers free one-on-one counseling. Cook County residents can find a counselor through the state Department on Aging.

If you already have a Part D or Medicare Advantage plan and later qualify for Extra Help, your subsidy will apply through your current plan, and you also get a Special Enrollment Period to change plans if a different one fits your drugs better.

How Extra Help fits with enrollment periods

Two dates worth remembering:

• Annual Enrollment Period: Oct. 15 – Dec. 7, when anyone with Medicare can join, switch, or drop a Part D or Medicare Advantage plan.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: Jan. 1 – March 31, for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan who want to switch once.

People who qualify for Extra Help generally get additional chances to change plans during the year — a helpful feature if your prescriptions change.

A quick note on higher-income enrollees

Extra Help is for lower-income beneficiaries, but it is worth knowing the other end of the scale exists too. In 2026, IRMAA surcharges — extra amounts added to Part B and Part D premiums — begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer (using tax data from two years earlier). That does not affect Extra Help eligibility, but it is a reminder that Medicare's cost structure is very income-sensitive on both ends.