Experts Say Medicare Can Help You Stay Independent In Your Home Longer

Tens of millions of Americans on Medicare may be missing out on desperately needed help paying for rent or utilities.

See if you qualify and get this benefit as soon as the first of next month.

Medicare is rapidly expanding its benefits, but it is so complicated, few people know this new benefit is available to them.

In Medicare-speak, help with rent and utilities is called “General Supports For Living.” Renters, homeowners, and even those in assisted living communities can get a subsidy from their Medicare plan.

“General Supports for Living” might help cover any of these for you:

Rent
Utility Subsidies
Electric
Water
Sewer
Gas
Landline Phones
Cable or other Pay TV
Assisted Living Communities

2022 has twice as many plans offering this benefit compared to last year. Which means you might already have this benefit and not know it.

You can call your Medicare provider (if they’re even open right now) and wait on hold, or you can take the free Medicare Benefits Finder Quiz and find an answer by responding to a few simple questions.

The quiz has been taken by over 2,218,221 people since September 2020.

Stay Independent In Your Home Longer

Many plans offer a Visa Debit card to pay for approved expenses like utilities or rent.

The benefit does not roll over from month to month or go backwards, so you’ll want to get on a plan as soon as possible.

Approximately 1.539 million people already have this benefit.

See if you qualify and get this benefit as soon as the first of next month.

Major Carriers Offer “General Supports For Living”

Getting help with rent and utilities is no longer limited to companies you’ve never heard of.

In 2022, 12 carriers offer “General Supports For Living.”

About 40% of Medicare Advantage carriers already offer this crucial benefit:

Humana Inc.
Capital BlueCross
Anthem Inc.
Centene Corporation (Wellcare)
Devoted Health, Inc.
Geisinger Health
Healthfirst, Inc.
Medical Card System, Inc.
Montage Health
Renown Health
Triple-S Management Corporation
Troy Holdings, Inc.

If your current carrier isn’t on the list, take 3 minutes and see if you can switch to one with the Medicare Benefits Finder Quiz.

Even if your carrier is on the list, you might not be on a plan that offers your critical help.

Help Is In Your State

40 states and Puerto Rico have plans offering General Supports for Living in at least one county in 2022.

ATI Advisory analysis of CMS PBP files excludes, EGHPs, PDPs, MMPs, Part B-only plans, and PACE.
Image Copyright 2022 Mapbox, OpenStreetMap

If you’re not sure if you can get “General Supports For Living” to help pay your rent or utilities, simply enter your zip code in the Medicare Benefits Finder Quiz and discover if you can get help starting as soon as the first of next month.

“General Supports For Living” Is Not For Everyone

There is bad news: If you are in perfect health, you can’t get this benefit. “General Supports For living” are only available for the chronically ill.

CMS (the agency that administers the Medicare program) says, “Approximately two-thirds of Medicare enrollees have multiple chronic conditions.”

There are 15 different medical conditions that qualify you as chronically ill.

The easiest way to find out is to take the Medicare Benefits Finder Quiz and see if you qualify.

Is This Even Legal?
What CMS says exactly: “General supports for living such as housing may be provided to chronically ill enrollees if the benefit has a reasonable expectation of improving or maintaining the health or overall function of the enrollee. General supports for living may be provided for a limited or extended duration as determined by the plan. The benefit may include plan-sponsored housing consultations and/or subsidies for rent or assisted living communities. Plans may also include subsidies for utilities such as gas, electric, and water as part of the benefit.”