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Medicare Savings Program,
Set to Expire, Is Extended
The Commonwealth Fund
October 4, 2004
A program that helps low-income Medicare beneficiaries pay for their Medicare Part B premium, set to expire Sept. 30, has been extended through November 20 by a congressionally approved stopgap spending bill.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, "recognizes how important this program is and is committed to making sure this benefit doesn't lapse," Grassley spokeswoman Jill Gerber said prior to the extension's approval. "Sen. Grassley is working with the Senate leadership on an appropriate way to get this done."
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the so-called QI-1 program for "qualifying individuals" is a time-limited, 100 percent federally matched grant program to states to pay the Part B premium.
QI-1's are Medicare beneficiaries with assets that do not exceed twice the supplemental security income level ($4,000 individual and $6,000 couple) and who have income of at least 120% of the federal poverty level but less than 135% of the federal poverty level. Medicaid pays the Part B premium, but does not provide Medicare cost-sharing.
According to CMS's Office of the Actuary, there are approximately 144,000 individuals enrolled in the QI-1 program.
In letters to both Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson reiterated the Bush Administration's "strong support" for extending the Qualified Individual Medicare Savings Program. Thompson wrote that the program provides roughly $800 a year in Medicaid funds to low-income Medicare beneficiaries to help pay their insurance premiums, and that 156,000 seniors and disabled individuals rely on the program. "We must work together to ensure its continuation," Thompson wrote.
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