Find benefits & help you may qualify for
Government benefits can be confusing. Benefits Instructor helps you understand your options and know what to do next.
Medicare Open Enrollment starts October 15. What to get ready now
What you can expect here
Browse
Help by category
Start with the program you already have a question about.
SNAP & food help
Monthly grocery help, and food resources you can use while you wait.
Housing
Rent help, housing vouchers, and what to do if you are facing eviction.
Utilities
LIHEAP and other help with heating, cooling, and past-due energy bills.
Disability
SSI and SSDI, how they differ, and what happens while you wait.
Senior benefits
Programs for people 60 and over, including several that are widely missed.
Government payments
Stimulus checks, rebates, refunds, and unclaimed money, each labeled available, ended, or only proposed.
Start where you are
What do you need help with?
Most people arrive here because something changed — a birthday, a diagnosis, a letter in the mail, a death in the family. Pick the one that sounds closest to your situation.
I can’t work because of a disability
SSDI, SSI, and the help available while your claim is decided.
My Medicaid coverage ended
Why it can stop, how to appeal, and what covers you meanwhile.
I’m caring for someone
Support for caregivers, and the benefits the person you help may qualify for.
I need help paying bills
Food, utility, housing, and health-cost help, in the order worth trying.
I need help with food
SNAP, plus food you can get this week without waiting for a decision.
I’m choosing a Medicare plan
Drugs and doctors first, premium last — and where to compare for free.
Benefits connections
Already receiving benefits? You may want to check for more.
Benefits programs are connected. Qualifying for one often opens the door to others, and many people never find out. Approval is never automatic — each program still has its own application and its own rules.
If you get SSI
- Medicaid — automatic in most states
- SNAP food benefits
- Extra Help with drug costs
- Utility and energy assistance
If you have Medicare
- Medicare Savings Programs — help with premiums
- Extra Help with prescription costs
- Medicaid, if your income is low enough
- Other programs for people 60 and over
If you get SNAP
- LIHEAP — energy bill assistance
- Medicaid in many states
- Free school meals and local food programs
- Discounted phone and internet service
Near you
Find help near you
A lot of the most useful help is local — a food bank, a county assistance office, a State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor who will sit down with you for free. Our guides point you to the agency that serves your area.
Deadlines
Important benefit dates
Some benefit windows only open once a year. These are the federal dates, taken from the program records we maintain.
Upcoming enrollment windows
Starts in 5 days
Medicare
The yearly window to switch Medicare Advantage or Part D plans for the following year.
Medicare General Enrollment Period
Medicare
For people who missed their Initial Enrollment Period and do not qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment
Medicare
One chance to switch Medicare Advantage plans or return to Original Medicare.
SNAP figures update for the new federal fiscal year
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Income limits and maximum allotments are adjusted at the start of the federal fiscal year.
Dates are the federal windows. Some programs run on their own state or local schedule, so confirm yours with the agency that administers it.
Tools
Estimate it before you apply
Every tool on this site runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us, stored, or recorded.
Benefits Finder
Answer a few questions and see which programs are worth applying for.
Social Security claiming age
See what claiming at 62, at full retirement age, or at 70 would pay.
Medicare costs
Estimate your monthly premium, including the income-related surcharge.
SNAP income check
See how your household income compares with the SNAP limits.
Keep up
Stay on top of benefits changes
Benefit amounts, income limits, and enrollment dates change every year — usually in the fall, and usually without much warning. We publish what changed, in plain English, on our updates page.
Sign up for occasional email updates on our updates page, or just check back whenever you like.
How we work
Information you can check for yourself
- We read every figure off the agency’s own page and store the link and the date beside it.
- Each page shows when it was last reviewed, and when we will look at it again.
- We say plainly when a rule varies by state, rather than presenting a federal answer as the whole story.
- When we get something wrong, we correct it and say what changed.
Benefits Instructor is an independent educational resource. We are not a government agency, and the agency that runs a program always makes the final decision about your eligibility.