Call (971) 366-2500
Extra Help
(LIS)
Our services are no cost to you
walk you through
What's Extra Help?
"Extra Help" is a Medicare program to help people with limited income and resources pay
Medicare drug coverage (Part D) premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and other costs.
What's a premium, deductible, coinsurance, or copayment?
You also won't have to pay a Part D late enrollment penalty while you get Extra Help.
Some people qualify for Extra Help automatically, and other people have to apply.
Who should apply for Extra Help?
In most cases, to qualify for Extra Help, you must have income and resources below a certain limit. These limits may go up each year.
Income and resource limits in 2025:
What you'll pay under Extra Help in 2025
-
​Plan premium: $0
-
Plan deductible: $0
-
Prescriptions you fill at one of your plan's participating pharmacies:
Once your total drug costs (including certain payments made on your behalf, like through the Extra Help program) reach $2,000, you’ll pay $0 for each covered drug.
-
Up to $4.90 for each generic drug
-
Up to $12.15 for each brand-name drug
-
1. People who won’t automatically be eligible for the LIS
Each September, we mail a notice (CMS Publication No. 11198) (PDF) on GRAY PAPER to people who’ll no longer automatically get the LIS. This notice is a LIS application, and it includes a postage-paid pre-addressed envelope. These people may still qualify for the LIS, but they will need to send in a new application. The gray notice:
-
Tells the person why they no longer automatically qualify for the LIS
-
Encourages them to fill out and send in a LIS application
2. People who’ll have a change to their LIS co-payment
​
In early October, we mail a notice (CMS Publication No. 11199) (PDF) on ORANGE PAPER to people who’ll qualify for extra help, but will have a change to their co-payment.
3. People who’ll be reassigned to a new plan
In early November, we mail a notice on BLUE PAPER (CMS Publication No. 11208) (PDF) to people who qualify for the LIS, but will be reassigned to a new prescription drug plan starting on January 1st.
We automatically reassign people who:
-
Qualify for the full (100%) premium subsidy
-
Are in a prescription drug plan that’s raising the premium above the low-income premium amount
-
Were enrolled in their current plan by CMS
We’ll also automatically reassign people who qualify for the LIS, if their prescription drug plan leaves the Medicare Program
4. People who chose their plan
In early November, we mail a notice (CMS Publication No. 11267) (PDF) to people:
-
Whose premium cost will increase, but we’re not automatically reassigning to a new plan, because they chose and joined their plan.
-
Who qualify for the full (100%) premium subsidy, but are in a plan that’s increasing their premium amount so it’s more than the standard low-income premium subsidy amount.
This notice tells people about the increase in their drug plan premium costs, and explains their options to stay in their plan or join another plan (including plans they won’t pay a monthly premium for).
