Benefits for seniors in Indiana

Medicaid for people 65 and over

FSSA's Division of Family Resources (DFR) decides who qualifies. The aged, blind and disabled group covers Traditional Medicaid, Hoosier Care Connect, and Indiana PathWays for Aging (for people 60 and over).

• Income: Up to $1,330 a month for one person, or $1,803.33 for a household of two.
• Assets: No more than $2,000 for a single person, or $3,000 for a married couple. Your home (if you live in it), one vehicle and burial spaces are not counted.
• What it covers: Doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, therapies, medical equipment, mental health care, and rides to medical visits.
• PathWays for Aging: If you are 60 or older and get full Medicaid, you are enrolled automatically. A health plan coordinates your care, with no copays under PathWays. For enrollment or plan changes, call 877-284-9294.

Long-term care Medicaid. For nursing home care or a home care waiver, only your income counts, up to $2,982 a month. Most of your income goes toward your care each month (a "patient liability"). In a nursing home you keep a personal needs allowance of $52 a month. If your spouse still lives at home, they can keep at least $32,532 in assets, and up to $162,660, plus a monthly income allowance of up to $4,067. If your home equity is over $752,000, you may not qualify for long-term care.

Estate recovery. After death, Indiana may seek repayment from the estate for Medicaid paid after age 55, but not while a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child survives; you can ask for a hardship waiver within 90 days of the claim (877-267-0013).

Help paying Medicare costs

Indiana's Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) use higher income limits than the federal minimum. Limits are monthly net income (after some income is not counted).

• QMB (Qualified Medicare Beneficiary): Pays your Medicare premiums, deductibles and coinsurance. Income up to 150% of the poverty level: $1,995 a month for one person, or $2,705 for two.
• SLMB (Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary): Pays your Part B premium. Income up to 170% of the poverty level: $2,261 a month for one person, or $3,066 for two.
• QI (Qualifying Individual): Pays your Part B premium. Income up to 185% of the poverty level: $2,461 a month for one person, or $3,337 for two.

Asset test: Yes. Countable assets must be under $9,950 for one person, or $14,910 for a couple living together.

If you get any MSP, you also get Extra Help with drug costs automatically. Apply even if you think you are a little over.

Prescription drug help

• HoosierRx: Indiana's State Pharmacy Assistance Program. It pays up to $70 a month toward your Part D premium, or the drug part of a Medicare Advantage premium. It does not pay deductibles or copays.
  • You must be 65 or older and live in Indiana.
  • For 2026, yearly income must be no more than $23,940 for a single or widowed person, or $32,460 for a married couple living together.
  • You must be in a drug plan that works with HoosierRx. People on Medicaid cannot get it.
  • Call 866-267-4679 or visit IN.gov/HoosierRX.
• Extra Help: The federal Extra Help program lowers Part D premiums and copays. Income must be below 150% of the poverty level, about $23,940 a year for one person in 2026.

Extra state payment with SSI

Indiana does not add a state payment to SSI for people living in their own home. Its state payments go only to people in room and board facilities or in Medicaid-certified care facilities, and the state, not Social Security, runs them. If you live at home, your SSI is the federal amount, up to $994 a month for one person.

Food help

SNAP food benefits in Indiana are run by FSSA's Division of Family Resources.

• Rules for older adults: If someone in your home is 60 or older or disabled, you only have to pass the net income test. Through September 2027 the net limit is $1,330 a month for one person. You can deduct medical costs over $35 a month that insurance does not pay. Your assets can be up to $4,750. Your home and household vehicles do not count.
• If everyone in your home gets SSI, the income limits do not apply.
• Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program: The Indiana Department of Health gives benefits for fresh, local produce at approved farmers markets. You must be 60 or older (or 55 and living in certain senior housing), live in a participating area, and have income at or below 185% of the poverty level. Spots are first come, first served. For questions, call the Department of Health's food programs line at 800-522-0874.
• Meals: Your Area Agency on Aging can tell you about home-delivered and group meals. Call 800-713-9023.

Help staying at home

• PathWays waiver: For PathWays members 60 and over who need nursing home level care. It can pay for adult day services, attendant care, home changes, home-delivered meals, emergency response systems, respite and transportation. There may be a waiting list.
• CHOICE: A state program for people 60 and over, or with a disability, who need help with daily tasks such as bathing or dressing. There is no income limit, but you may share the cost. Countable assets cannot be over $250,000. It pays for things like attendant care, homemaker help and meals when Medicare or Medicaid cannot.
• PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly): For people 55 and older who need nursing home level care and live in a PACE service area.
• Where to start: Indiana's 15 Area Agencies on Aging and Aging and Disability Resource Centers (the INconnect Alliance) cover every county. Call 800-713-9023.

Property tax and housing help

Indiana changed its senior property tax breaks in 2025. Apply on the state form at your county auditor's office.

• Over 65 credit: Up to $150 off your property tax bill. You must be 65 or older by December 31 of the year before, have owned the property for at least one year, and, from 2026, live in it (a stay in a nursing home or hospital does not count against you). Your federal adjusted gross income must be $60,000 or less if single, or $70,000 or less if filing jointly. A surviving spouse 60 or older may qualify. This credit replaced the old over 65 deduction.
• Over 65 circuit breaker credit: Keeps the tax on your home from going up more than 2% a year. For bills due in 2027, income must be no more than $61,680 if single, or $71,960 if married. There is no longer a limit on the home's value.
• Blind or disabled credit: Up to $125 off for the home you live in. There is no income limit.
• Deadline: Apply by January 15 of the year the taxes are due. People who had the old over 65 deduction may need to apply for the new credit. Once you have it, you do not need to reapply each year, but tell the auditor within 60 days if you stop qualifying.
• Homestead deduction: All homeowners who live in their home can get the homestead deduction. The amounts are changing each year through 2031, so check with your county auditor.

Help with energy bills

The Energy Assistance Program (EAP) is Indiana's version of LIHEAP. The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) runs it through local service providers in each county.

• Who qualifies: Household income at or below 60% of the state median income. For the 2027 program year, that is about $33,556 a year for one person or $43,882 for two. Your last three months of income are used.
• When: Applications are open October 1, 2026, through April 30, 2027.
• How to apply: Online at eap.mylitt.com, or by mail or in person through your county's local service provider. Questions: [email protected].

Free help and counseling

• SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program): Free, unbiased help with Medicare. Call 800-452-4800.
• Area Agencies on Aging / ADRCs: Help for people 60 and over and caregivers, including CHOICE and waiver applications. Call 800-713-9023.
• State Information Center: 800-457-8283 for help finding any state office.

How to apply

Phone numbers: Free help lines for Indiana agencies

Check what you may qualify for