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 all three tiers as the Medicare Beneficiaries Savings Program, and labels the third one SLMB135, which is this state's name for the federal Qualifying Individual (QI) program.,

In This Guide

New Hampshire uses the standard federal income and resource limits for all three Medicare Savings Program (MSP) tiers. The figures above are the national ones, not a New Hampshire deviation, and they're approximate: they track the Federal Poverty Level, they change every year, and DHHS does not publish its own dollar table. 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," where you qualify by incurring medical bills that spend your countable income down to a state-set standard. In and Out and the Medicare Beneficiaries Savings Program are different answers to the same problem. If you're on Medicare, the savings programs are usually the first one to check: they have no spend-down and no bills to incur.

What SLMB135 Means on Your DHHS Paperwork

SLMB135 is New Hampshire's name for the federal Qualifying Individual (QI) program.

Federal pages, Medicare's own site, and every national explainer call the 120-135% FPL tier "QI." New Hampshire's forms and approval notices call it SLMB135. The "135" is the FPL ceiling: 135% of the Federal Poverty Level.

So if a DHHS letter says you were approved for SLMB135, you were approved for QI. Everything written about QI applies to you: it pays your Part B premium, it comes from a capped federal allotment, and federal law closes it to anyone otherwise eligible for medical assistance under the state plan.,, Federal law makes all four Medicare Savings Program groups mandatory for the 50 states and the District of Columbia, so New Hampshire also runs a fourth: Qualified Disabled and Working Individuals (QDWI), for working people with disabilities who lost premium-free Part A., QDWI carries a parallel restriction, and it serves a different population from the three tiers below.

QMB: The Top Tier

QMB pays the most. For a 2026 enrollee it covers:

For a single New Hampshire retiree on Social Security, the 2026 Part B premium alone is about $2,434.80 a year 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, or about $2,434.80 over the year. DHHS says SLMB also helps with any premium penalty you're carrying for enrolling in Part B late, a surcharge that otherwise rides your premium for as long as you have Part B. Deductibles and copays stay yours.,

If you rarely see a doctor, that single benefit is most of what QMB would have given you anyway.

SLMB135: The Third Tier

SLMB135 pays the Part B premium, same as SLMB, at a higher income band. What sets it apart is that it can run out. QI is funded from a capped annual federal allotment and granted first-come, first-served, and you must apply for it again every year, since selection in one year does not entitle you to continued assistance the next, so file early in the calendar year rather than late. Federal statute is explicit that QI is not an entitlement: an eligible QMB or SLMB applicant cannot be turned away or waitlisted for want of funding, but an eligible SLMB135 applicant can.,,

It also can't be stacked on Medicaid. The federal statute that defines QI covers only people who are "not otherwise eligible for medical assistance under the State plan," which closes the tier to anyone who is, a bar that reaches wider than full Medicaid alone. New Hampshire's In and Out pathway is medical assistance under that state plan, so it sits on the wrong side of that line. If you're weighing an In and Out spend-down against SLMB135, that's a choice between them, not a way to hold both. Ask DHHS or a ServiceLink counselor to run the comparison for your numbers.

All Three New Hampshire Medicare Savings Programs Compared

NH label Federal name Single income Couple income What it pays Guaranteed if you qualify?
QMB QMB Up to about $1,350/mo Up to about $1,824/mo Part A and Part B premiums, plus all Medicare cost-sharing Yes. No funding cap, no waiting list
SLMB SLMB Up to about $1,616/mo Up to about $2,184/mo Part B premium, plus any late-enrollment premium penalty Yes. No funding cap, no waiting list
SLMB135 QI Up to about $1,816/mo Up to about $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 2026 the resource limit is the same across all three New Hampshire Medicare Savings Program tiers ($9,950 for a single applicant, $14,910 for a couple), so the tier you land in is decided by income alone. Those bands sit at 100% FPL, 100-120% FPL, and 120-135% FPL.,

How Your Income Gets Counted

The income DHHS tests is not your gross income. MSP financial eligibility runs on Supplemental Security Income counting rules: the federal QMB definition in the Social Security Act sets income and resources as they're determined for the SSI program.

Two exclusions do most of the work:

  • SSI doesn't count the first $20 of most monthly income. It comes off unearned income first, which for most retirees means the Social Security check. Don't subtract it a second time, though: the dollar figures above already carry that $20 on top of the FPL percentage.,
  • If you work, SSI also ignores the first $65 of monthly earnings plus half of everything above $65.

That's why a gross figure a little over one of the lines above doesn't settle anything. States may also apply disregards of their own, to resources as well as to income, and can effectively raise both limits above the federal standard, so federal guidance is explicit that applicants should confirm current limits with their state rather than rule themselves out. The practical rule: if you're anywhere near a line, apply and let DHHS run the arithmetic.

For scale, SSI's own federal benefit rate in 2026 is $994 a month for an individual and $1,491 for a couple, well below the QMB line of about $1,350.,, Income that's too high for the programs keyed to SSI is routinely low enough for an MSP.

What Counts Against the Resource Limit

New Hampshire keeps a live asset test. DHHS counts what you own, and for a married couple what the two of you own together, against the 2026 Medicare Savings Program resource limits of $9,950 (single) and $14,910 (couple).,

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

  • The home you live in, and the land it sits on, whatever it's worth
  • 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 the face value of any life insurance on the same person whose cash value is already excluded, and by anything in an irrevocable burial arrangement, so the burial set-aside and the life insurance below don't stack.,
  • 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.

Checking and savings balances, stocks, bonds, CDs, a second vehicle, and a vacation property all count.

If the house or the car is what's keeping you from applying, neither one counts. The MSP ceiling is also roomy next to SSI's own resource limits, which stop at $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 applies even when New Hampshire Medicaid pays the provider nothing toward that cost-sharing, and it applies whether or not the provider takes Medicaid. Providers must accept the Medicare payment as payment in full and bill the state instead. A provider who ignores it 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.
  2. Show your DHHS approval notice.
  3. Call ServiceLink at 1-866-634-9412. Medicare specialists at ADRC locations are SHIP-trained and certified and help you understand your Medicare benefits and options; CMS describes SHIP counseling nationally as free, personalized, and unbiased.
  4. If it isn't resolved, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) and ask the representative to submit your complaint to the Medicare Beneficiary Ombudsman, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) office that handles beneficiary complaints Medicare and your plan didn't fix.,

Part D Extra Help Comes With It

Enrolling in QMB, SLMB, or SLMB135 automatically qualifies you for Extra Help, the Part D Low-Income Subsidy. You don't file a second application. Since 2024 there's no partial tier left, so everyone who qualifies gets the full subsidy., The fourth group New Hampshire runs, QDWI, is the exception: federal rules deem QMB, SLMB, and QI enrollees eligible for the full subsidy, and QDWI is not on that list.

Full Extra Help in 2026 means:

  • No Part D deductible. The annual deductible is eliminated outright for full-subsidy enrollees. The $615 ceiling you may read about as the 2026 maximum Part D deductible is the rule for people who don't get Extra Help.
  • $0 for the plan premium, as long as the plan you pick is priced at or under the cap Medicare sets for your region. That cap is the greater of your region's low-income benchmark premium or the lowest basic drug-plan premium sold there. Choose a costlier plan and you pay the difference.
  • 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,

In 2026, Extra Help's own resource limits are far higher than the MSP ones: $16,590 for an individual and $33,100 for a couple. If your assets put you over the $9,950 MSP line, you may still qualify for Extra Help on its own through the Social Security Administration.,,

How to Apply for a New Hampshire Medicare Savings Program

New Hampshire DHHS takes the application three ways: online through the NH EASY portal, on the paper Application for Assistance (Form 800) filed by mail or dropped at a district office, or by phone through the DHHS Customer Service Center at 1-844-ASK-DHHS (1-844-275-3447).

1
Step 1

Gather what DHHS will ask for

Three documents establish who you are: your Medicare card, which carries the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier; your Social Security number; and proof you live in New Hampshire. Three more establish the money: your latest SSA benefit or COLA letter, statements for every bank and investment account, and records of any pension or annuity.

2
Step 2

File it

Online through NH EASY, by phone at 1-844-275-3447, or on Form 800 at a DHHS district office. Don't pick your own tier on the form; DHHS tests your income against all three.

3
Step 3

Wait out the clock

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

4
Step 4

Read the notice for the tier name

An approval for "SLMB135" is an approval for federal QI.

If any of that is daunting, ServiceLink counselors will do the application with you, at no cost.

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. How long varies by state and by case; no published federal figure fixes the lag. If your premium comes out of a Social Security, RRB, or OPM benefit, that deduction can continue for a month or more, and SSA refunds every month you were covered by buy-in. If instead CMS bills you directly, which it does when you do not receive one of those benefits, keep paying that bill until buy-in is actually in effect: the only exception CMS states to the premium obligation is a state already paying under a buy-in agreement, and unpaid premiums can end your Part B coverage. Don't panic when it is still withheld. Premiums taken for months the state is now responsible for get credited back to you.

SLMB and SLMB135 can reach backward. QMB cannot. SLMB and QI follow the general Medicaid retroactivity rule and can be made effective up to three months before the month you applied, if you'd have qualified then. QMB is prospective-only by statute: coverage starts the first day of the month after DHHS approves you, and no earlier. That asymmetry is a real argument for filing sooner, because the months you wait on a QMB application are months nobody can give back.

The tiers also don't reach equally far. QMB covers the Part A and Part B premiums plus Medicare cost-sharing; SLMB and SLMB135 pay the Part B premium and any late-enrollment penalty on it, but carry no Medicare cost-sharing protection, so deductibles, coinsurance, and copays stay yours.,,

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

Where to Get Help in New Hampshire

ServiceLink (New Hampshire SHIP) Medicare counseling through the state's Aging and Disability Resource Center network, whose Medicare specialists are SHIP-trained and certified. CMS describes SHIP counseling nationally as free, personalized, and unbiased. Counselors will sit with you and fill out the application for any of the three tiers. 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 Ask for the Medicare Beneficiary Ombudsman if a provider keeps billing you for cost-sharing your QMB coverage pays. 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 New Hampshire's label for the federal Qualifying Individual (QI) program, the Medicare Savings Program tier for people whose income is at least 120% of the Federal Poverty Level and less than 135%. It pays the Medicare Part B premium, including any premium penalty you owe for late enrollment. The "135" is that FPL ceiling. If a DHHS notice approves you for SLMB135, you're on QI, and everything written nationally about QI applies to you.

Who qualifies for QMB in New Hampshire?

In 2026, a New Hampshire Medicare beneficiary qualifies for QMB with monthly income up to about $1,350 (single) or $1,824 (couple) and countable resources at or below $9,950 (single) or $14,910 (couple). The figures are approximate because they track the Federal Poverty Level and change annually. QMB pays the Part A and Part B premiums, any premium penalties for late enrollment, plus every Medicare deductible, copay, and coinsurance.

Does New Hampshire have different income limits than other states?

No. New Hampshire uses the standard federal tiers. Those tiers run higher in Alaska and Hawaii, and some states layer income disregards of their own on top of them, so the figures are worth confirming wherever you live. New Hampshire itself does not deviate. What's different in New Hampshire is the naming and the paperwork: the program is the Medicare Beneficiaries Savings Program and the third tier is SLMB135 rather than QI.

Can I get New Hampshire MSP benefits retroactively?

SLMB and SLMB135 can be effective up to three months before your application month, but only for months you would actually have qualified in, and DHHS tests your income and resources for each one. QMB cannot reach backward at all: federal law makes it prospective-only, starting the month after approval. If you are close to the QMB line, every month you wait is a month that cannot be recovered.

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

State buy-in is established through a data exchange between DHHS and CMS rather than at the moment of approval. States with buy-in agreements must exchange that data with CMS daily, so the lag is not caused by an infrequent exchange, but a delay of a month or more can still happen, and no published federal figure fixes how long it takes. If your premium comes out of a Social Security, RRB, or OPM benefit, that deduction can continue for a month or more, and SSA refunds every month you were covered by buy-in. If instead CMS bills you directly, which it does when you do not receive one of those benefits, keep paying that bill until buy-in is actually in effect: the only exception CMS states to the premium obligation is a state already paying under a buy-in agreement, and unpaid premiums can end your Part B coverage. Amounts withheld for months the state now owes are credited back to you. If it is still coming out after two full months, 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.

BC

Brevy Care Team

Expert eldercare guidance from Brevy's team of healthcare professionals and researchers.