Dual Eligibility

Being dual eligible means qualifying for both Medicare and your state's Medicaid program. Medicare pays first, Medicaid fills many of the gaps, and special Medicare Advantage plans called D-SNPs are built around that combination. Eligibility depends on income and assets and is set state by state.

Dual-eligible beneficiaries have the most help available and the most complicated paperwork to reach it. The guides below explain which program does what, and the screener estimates whether Extra Help — the drug-cost program most dual-eligibles qualify for automatically — applies to you.