New Hampshire Medicare Savings Programs pay the 2026 Medicare Part B premium of $202.90 a month for Medicare beneficiaries with limited income and resources. At the top tier they cover every Part A and Part B deductible and copay as well. New Hampshire DHHS runs them as the Medicare Beneficiaries Savings Program, and its own program page names the tiers QMB and "SLMB or SLMB135.",

In This Guide

Those dollar figures are the federal Medicare Savings Program standards SSA publishes for every state except Alaska and Hawaii, not levels New Hampshire itself publishes: DHHS's program page carries no dollar amounts and no poverty-level percentages at all. They are set as percentages of the Federal Poverty Level, so they move when it does. States can also effectively raise both limits by disregarding certain income and resources, and what New Hampshire's own disregards produce is not something any public source pins down, so treat the numbers as a starting point rather than a cutoff. What's genuinely local here is the vocabulary.,

What New Hampshire Calls Its Medicare Savings Programs

Medicare Savings Programs are Medicaid-administered benefits that pay a low-income Medicare beneficiary's premiums and cost-sharing. QMB, SLMB, and QI are federal programs defined by income as a percentage of the Federal Poverty Level, and each state's Medicaid agency runs them.

New Hampshire offers them under the name Medicare Beneficiaries Savings Program, administered by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) through the state Medicaid program. DHHS determines financial eligibility and handles enrollment for every tier.,

If your income is too high for regular Medicaid, DHHS runs a separate route as well, a medically-needy pathway it calls In and Out. DHHS gives each person a Spenddown, "similar to a car insurance deductible": only when qualifying medical expenses add up to that amount can Medicaid help pay bills incurred for the duration of the spenddown period. It is a per-period deductible, not coverage that stays on once you meet it. If you're on Medicare, the savings programs are usually the first thing to check instead: no spenddown, no bills to incur first.

What SLMB135 Means on Your DHHS Paperwork

DHHS's program page names its tiers QMB and "SLMB or SLMB135." It lists QDWI separately: that program pays only the Part A premium of disabled working people who lost Medicare due to earnings. SLMB135 is not one of the four federal group names, which is why it is hard to look up.

Federally there are four Medicare Savings Program groups, and federal law makes all four mandatory for the 50 states and the District of Columbia: QMB at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level; SLMB from 100 to 120%; Qualifying Individual (QI) from 120 to 135%; and Qualified Disabled and Working Individuals (QDWI), for working people with disabilities who lost premium-free Part A.,

DHHS publishes no poverty-level percentage of its own, and no source we can cite states which federal group SLMB135 is. What DHHS does state is that you must be entitled to Medicare Part B, and you may not be otherwise eligible for Medicaid. So if a notice approves you for SLMB135, ask DHHS which income limit it tested you against before you assume a national article about QI describes your benefit.

QMB: The Top Tier

QMB reaches furthest. DHHS's own register is that it "provides limited assistance to help pay" these, so confirm your case, but for a 2026 enrollee the list is:

For a single New Hampshire retiree on Social Security, twelve months of the $202.90 Part B premium works out to $2,434.80 over 2026 that stops leaving the benefit check.

SLMB: Just the Part B Premium

The Part B premium is the core of what SLMB covers: $202.90 a month in 2026. DHHS says SLMB also helps with any penalty you carry for enrolling in Part B late, a surcharge that otherwise generally rides your premium for as long as you have Part B. Deductibles and copays stay yours.,

SLMB135: The Third Tier

SLMB135 pays the Part B premium and any late-enrollment penalty, the same as SLMB. What DHHS says about it that it does not say about SLMB is a bar: an SLMB135 recipient may not be otherwise eligible for Medicaid. New Hampshire's In and Out pathway is Medicaid, so it sits on the wrong side of that line. If you're weighing an In and Out spenddown against SLMB135, that's a choice between them, not a way to hold both. Ask DHHS or a ServiceLink counselor to compare them for your numbers. And being shut out because you already have Medicaid is not a loss: someone with Medicare who qualifies for full Medicaid but not the QMB or SLMB groups is a full-benefit dual eligible, which is the fuller category, not the thinner one.

The federal tier at this income band, QI, works differently from the two below it. QI is not an entitlement: it is rationed from a capped annual allotment, states select applicants in the order they apply, and an otherwise eligible QI applicant can be turned away for want of funding, something federal statute expressly permits for QI and not for QMB or SLMB., But the state must let everyone apply, a selected QI keeps the help for the rest of that year while still qualifying, and last December's enrollees get preference the next year. Ask DHHS whether any of that reaches SLMB135, and file early in the year either way.

All Three New Hampshire Medicare Savings Programs Compared

Federal group NH label Single income Couple income What it pays Guaranteed if you qualify?
QMB QMB Up to $1,350/mo Up to $1,824/mo Part A and Part B premiums, plus Part A and Part B cost-sharing Yes. A mandatory group, with no QI-style allotment cap
SLMB SLMB Up to $1,616/mo Up to $2,184/mo Part B premium, plus any late-enrollment premium penalty Yes. A mandatory group, with no QI-style allotment cap
QI DHHS's third tier is labeled SLMB135; DHHS does not say which federal group it is Up to $1,816/mo Up to $2,455/mo Part B premium and late-enrollment penalty, from a capped annual allotment No. First-come, first-served until the allotment runs out

In the 2026 federal standard the resource limit is the same across all three tiers ($9,950 for a single applicant, $14,910 for a couple), so among the financial tests, income alone decides the tier. Each income band is the poverty-level percentage plus $20, which is SSI's general income exclusion built into the table.,

How Your Income Gets Counted

The income DHHS tests is not your gross income. MSP eligibility runs on Supplemental Security Income counting rules: the federal QMB definition sets income and resources as determined for the SSI program. Two exclusions do most of the work:

That's why a gross figure a little over one of the lines above doesn't settle anything. DHHS counts all available income for you and a spouse living with you, subtracts certain expenses from that total, and compares the resulting net figure to the limit for your living arrangement and program. States may also apply disregards of their own, to resources as well as income, and can effectively raise both limits above the federal standard. SSA's own manual tells staff that a person whose income or resources look somewhat higher than the state limits should still be encouraged to apply., The practical rule: if you're anywhere near a line, apply and let DHHS run the arithmetic.

For scale, SSI's own 2026 federal benefit rate is $994 a month for an individual and $1,491 for a couple, well below the QMB line of $1,350., So income above SSI's federal rate can still sit under an MSP line.

What Counts Against the Resource Limit

New Hampshire keeps a live asset test, though DHHS publishes no dollar figure for it; the 2026 federal Medicare Savings Program resource standard is $9,950 (single) and $14,910 (couple). DHHS's own summary of what it leaves out is short and reassuring: "We do not count certain resources such as the home you are living in, vehicles or burial plots for yourself.",

Under the SSI resource rules the MSP test borrows, these don't count:

  • The home you live in, and the land it sits on
  • One vehicle used for transportation, whatever it's worth
  • Household goods and personal effects
  • Up to $1,500 per person set aside and clearly designated for burial expenses, for you and separately for a spouse, as long as it's kept separate from other money. That $1,500 is reduced by three things: the face value of any life insurance on the same person whose cash value is already excluded, anything in an irrevocable burial arrangement, and a burial insurance policy or a life policy with a funeral provider as irrevocable beneficiary. The third one catches people out, because burial insurance stays out of the life-insurance face-value total below yet still cuts the set-aside dollar for dollar: a $1,200 burial policy leaves $300.,
  • Life insurance cash value, if the total face value of all policies on one person is $1,500 or less. Above $1,500 of face value, the combined cash surrender value counts.

Anything else you own, such as bank and CD balances, stocks, bonds, cars, or land, is a resource under SSI's definition and counts unless an exclusion covers it.

If the house or the car is what's keeping you from applying, neither one counts, and the MSP ceiling is roomy next to SSI's own limits of $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple.

If a Provider Bills You and You Have QMB

Federal law bars every Medicare provider and supplier, pharmacies included, from billing a QMB enrollee for Part A or Part B deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments. It holds even when New Hampshire Medicaid pays the provider nothing toward that cost-sharing, and whether or not the provider takes Medicaid. Medicare's payment plus whatever the state pays counts as payment in full, and the provider can bill the state for the cost-sharing instead. You cannot waive it: CMS states that QMBs may not elect to pay Medicare deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. It follows you across state lines, so a provider must not charge you even when your QMB benefit comes from a different state than the one you are getting care in. And where a bill has already gone out, CMS instructs providers to recall it, including bills already turned over to collections. A provider who ignores the rule violates the Medicare Provider Agreement and can face sanctions.,

If a bill shows up anyway:

  1. Don't pay it. Tell the provider you're in the QMB group and that federal law bars the charge, and show your Medicare and Medicaid cards or a Medicare Summary Notice that says you're in the QMB Program.
  2. Call ServiceLink, New Hampshire's SHIP, at 1-866-634-9412. Its Medicare specialists are SHIP-trained and certified, and SHIP's federal home, the Administration for Community Living, describes it as one-on-one counseling for people with Medicare and their families.
  3. If it isn't resolved, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), which can confirm your QMB status and ask the provider to stop billing and refund you. If that fails, ask the representative to submit your complaint to the Medicare Beneficiary Ombudsman, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) program that handles beneficiary complaints Medicare and your plan didn't fix.,

Part D Extra Help Comes With It

Enrolling in a Medicare Savings Program automatically qualifies you for Extra Help, the Part D Low-Income Subsidy, with no second application; since 2024 there is no partial tier, so everyone who qualifies gets the full subsidy. QDWI is the exception: federal rules deem QMB, SLMB, and QI enrollees eligible, and QDWI is not on that list.,

Full Extra Help in 2026 means:

  • No Part D deductible. It is eliminated outright for full-subsidy enrollees; the $615 ceiling you may read about for 2026 is the rule for people who don't get Extra Help.
  • $0 for the plan's basic-coverage premium, as long as it's at or under your region's benchmark cap. Choose a costlier plan and you pay the difference, and on an enhanced plan the share of the premium that buys its extra benefits is yours too.
  • No more than $5.10 per generic prescription and $12.65 per brand-name drug
  • $0 for covered drugs once your out-of-pocket spending hits $2,100 for the year,

Extra Help's own 2026 resource limits are far higher than the MSP ones, $18,090 for an individual and $36,100 for a couple, figures that already include the $1,500-per-person burial exclusion, so assets over the $9,950 MSP line may still leave you eligible for Extra Help on its own through the Social Security Administration.,

How to Apply for a New Hampshire Medicare Savings Program

DHHS determines financial eligibility and every non-financial requirement, disability determinations included, and directs applicants to NH EASY, the portal for any assistance it offers. Questions go to the DHHS Customer Service Center at 1-844-ASK-DHHS (1-844-275-3447), TDD relay 1-800-735-2964, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ServiceLink's Options Counseling staff, trained to guide you through the Medicaid application, can help at 1-866-634-9412.

1
Step 1

Get your papers together

DHHS requires US citizenship or eligible qualified-alien status, current New Hampshire residence, and a Social Security number (or proof you've applied), and it tests income and resources. Have your Medicare card, benefit letters, and account statements ready.

2
Step 2

File it

Online through NH EASY, or with a ServiceLink counselor. All three tiers sit under the one Medicare Beneficiaries Savings Program.,

3
Step 3

Wait out the clock

Federal rules give the state up to 45 days to decide a non-disability Medicaid application, and up to 90 days when the application rests on a disability determination.

4
Step 4

Check which tier you were approved for

DHHS's tiers are QMB, SLMB, and SLMB135, and which one you got decides what is covered.

What Changes After DHHS Approves You

Your premium stops coming out of your Social Security check, but not instantly. Once you're approved, New Hampshire pays your Part B premium through a federal arrangement called state buy-in, authorized under Section 1843 of the Social Security Act. Buy-in is established through a data exchange between DHHS and CMS rather than at the moment of approval, so the deduction can keep coming for a month or more; no published federal figure fixes the lag. If your premium comes out of a Social Security, RRB, or OPM benefit, SSA refunds every month you were covered by buy-in. If instead CMS bills you directly, which it does when you receive none of those benefits, keep paying that bill until buy-in is in effect: the only exception CMS states to the premium obligation is a state already paying under a buy-in agreement.

QMB does not reach backward. The Social Security Act provides that a QMB determination applies to services furnished after the end of the month in which the determination is first made, so QMB coverage runs prospectively and the months you spend waiting to file are months nobody can give back. For SLMB and SLMB135 there is no such federal rule to point to: the statute's effective-date provision names qualified medicare beneficiaries only, and no source we can cite states a retroactivity window for the other tiers. Medicaid's general effective-date rule can reach as far back as the third month before the month of application, but only where you received covered services in that month and would have been eligible then, and the state plan fixes the operative date. So ask DHHS how far back an SLMB or SLMB135 approval can be made effective rather than assuming three months.

The tiers also don't reach equally far. QMB covers the Part A and Part B premiums plus Part A and Part B cost-sharing; SLMB and SLMB135 cover the Part B premium and any late-enrollment penalty on it, with no cost-sharing protection, so on SLMB alone deductibles, coinsurance, and copays stay yours. Full Medicaid on top (SLMB Plus) changes that: for services both programs cover, you pay no more than the state plan allows if the provider takes Medicaid.,

Your next step Start your application at NH EASY, or call the DHHS Customer Service Center at 1-844-275-3447 with questions. For help with the form, call ServiceLink at 1-866-634-9412.,

Where to Get Help in New Hampshire

ServiceLink (New Hampshire SHIP) SHIP-trained Medicare counseling through the state's Aging and Disability Resource Centers, with staff trained to guide you through the Medicaid application., 1-866-634-9412 dhhs.nh.gov/servicelink
New Hampshire DHHS Determines MSP financial eligibility and processes applications for QMB, SLMB, and SLMB135. Apply online at NH EASY., 1-844-275-3447 (1-844-ASK-DHHS) dhhs.nh.gov
Medicare Call if a provider keeps billing you for cost-sharing QMB covers; if that fails, ask for the Medicare Beneficiary Ombudsman., 1-800-633-4227 (1-800-MEDICARE)https://www.medicare.gov/talk-to-someone medicare.gov

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SLMB135 in New Hampshire?

SLMB135 is the label New Hampshire DHHS uses for its third Medicare Savings Program tier; its program page names the tiers QMB and "SLMB or SLMB135." DHHS says SLMB135 provides assistance with the Medicare Part B premium and any premium penalty you owe for late enrollment, that you must be entitled to Part B, and that you may not be otherwise eligible for Medicaid. No public source we can cite says which of the four federal groups SLMB135 is, so ask DHHS which income limit it tested you against.

Who qualifies for QMB in New Hampshire?

The 2026 federal QMB standards covering New Hampshire are monthly income up to $1,350 (single) or $1,824 (couple) and countable resources up to $9,950 (single) or $14,910 (couple). DHHS publishes no dollar limits of its own, and it compares your net income, not your gross, against the limit. QMB pays the Part A and Part B premiums, any premium penalties for late enrollment, plus every Part A and Part B deductible, copay, and coinsurance.,

Does New Hampshire have different income limits than other states?

DHHS publishes no dollar limits of its own, so the figures in this guide are the federal standards SSA publishes for all states except Alaska and Hawaii, whose income limits run higher (the resource limits are the same everywhere). States can effectively raise both the income and the resource limits by disregarding certain income and resources, and no public source establishes what New Hampshire's own disregards produce. What is plainly different in New Hampshire is the naming: the program is the Medicare Beneficiaries Savings Program and the third tier is labeled SLMB135.

Can I get New Hampshire MSP benefits retroactively?

QMB cannot reach backward: the Social Security Act applies a QMB determination to services furnished after the end of the month the determination is made, so it starts prospectively and every month you wait is a month that cannot be recovered. For SLMB and SLMB135, ask DHHS: the federal effective-date provision names QMB only, and Medicaid's general rule reaches back to the third month before you applied only where you received covered services then and would have been eligible, with the state plan fixing the date.

My Part B premium is still being deducted after approval. Why?

Buy-in runs through a DHHS-CMS data exchange, not the moment of approval, so a lag of a month or more can happen even though states must exchange that data daily; no published federal figure fixes its length. Amounts withheld for months the state now owes are credited back to you. If it keeps coming out, call DHHS at 1-844-275-3447 and ask where your buy-in record stands.,

Learn More

MedicaidMedicare Savings Programs by State: QMB, SLMB, and QI LimitsMedicare Savings Programs help pay your Part B premium, and the limits differ by state. See the 2026 QMB, SLMB, and QI limits and jump to your state's guide. MedicaidNew Hampshire Medicaid: Eligibility and How to ApplySee who New Hampshire Medicaid covers, the 2026 income and asset limits, the Choices for Independence home-care waiver, and how to apply through NH EASY. MedicaidNew Hampshire Medicaid Long-Term Care: Nursing Home and Home CareNew Hampshire Medicaid pays for long-term care in a nursing home or at home through the Choices for Independence waiver. See the 2026 income and asset limits. MedicareMedicare Plans and Coverage in New HampshireMedicare in New Hampshire for 2026: Parts A and B, Medicare Advantage, Part D, Medigap rules, and the programs that help pay your Medicare costs.

Find personalized help applying for a New Hampshire Medicare Savings Program at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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