February 16, 2006

Q: My aunt signed up for a Medicare drug plan and was told by Social Security that she also qualifies for the extra financial assistance for people with low incomes. This is good news because she takes a lot of prescriptions, and up until now, hasn’t had insurance to help with her drug costs. But I am concerned that she might lose her food stamps because of the new Medicare drug benefit. Can this happen?  -- Bob

Dear Bob:

It’s good to hear that your aunt will be getting help under the new Medicare benefit, especially since she has been without prescription drug coverage. The additional low-income assistance she received this year is expected to provide substantial help to people who enroll in a Medicare drug plan.

You raise an important question with regard to her food stamps. You are right. There is a possibility that the new benefits under Medicare could affect your aunt’s food stamp benefits.

Here’s how this could happen: When the government determines your aunt’s food stamp benefits, it considers how much income she has after expenses, such as her medical and prescription drug bills. If she has high medical expenses, then, for purposes of calculating food stamp benefits, her income goes down. This would increase her food stamp benefits. If her medical expenses go down because the Medicare drug benefit lowers the amount she spends on prescriptions, then her income (after expenses) would be higher than it would have been without the benefit. This could lead to a possible reduction in her food stamp benefits.

It is possible that your aunt could lose her food stamps completely, depending on how much she previously spent on prescriptions. However, Medicare says that no one will be worse off because of the substantial value of the new Medicare benefit for people with low incomes.

This column was prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent, non-profit private foundation based in Menlo Park, Calif., that is not affiliated with the Kaiser Permanente health plan. Do you have questions about the new Medicare drug benefit? Send your questions to Medicare Q and A. The Kaiser Family Foundation. 1330 G St., NW. Washington, DC  20005 or MedicareQ@kff.org. 

(c) 2006, Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.