The Senior Desk · Free · Private · Never files for you
Screen yourself for benefits you may be owed
A free, private screener for seven programs Florida seniors often qualify for and miss. It asks about the pieces of your finances you can answer — never 'your income' — and shows which programs you look likely to qualify for, with the official application for each. It runs entirely in your browser: nothing is transmitted, stored, or seen by anyone, and it never files anything for you.
Screen yourself — a few plain questions
Your answers never leave your phone. This runs on your device only. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, saved, or seen by us — there is no place for it to go, and no account to make. That is why we can ask plainly.
Notice there is no box that just says "income." These programs each count income differently, so we ask about the pieces you can answer, and the math is done for you.
This part needs JavaScript and runs entirely on your device — nothing is sent anywhere. If JavaScript is off, the two worked examples below show exactly how the screen works with real numbers.
Two worked examples
These are computed here with real numbers, so they work whether or not the screener above is running. They show the two things that trip people up: how each program measures income differently, and how care costs change the answer.
Example 1 — a single homeowner living on Social Security
Say you are 74, live alone in a home you own, and your income is a $1,150-a-month Social Security deposit plus about $30 of interest. You have $8,000 in the bank and no big care costs. Here is how the screen reads (an example — use your own numbers):
| Program | Screen result | How its income is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Extra Help with Medicare drug costs (Part D Low-Income Subsidy) | You look likely to qualify | SSA countable income (your deposit and other income, minus SSA's exclusions), plus a limit on money in the bank |
| Medicare Savings Programs — the state pays your Part B premium | You look likely to qualify | the same SSA countable-income method, with a lower limit on money in the bank |
| SNAP food help | You look likely to qualify | NET monthly income (a household with someone 60+ skips the gross test) — care costs come off here too |
| Lifeline — a monthly discount on phone or internet | You look likely to qualify | gross household income vs 135% of the poverty guideline — OR automatic if you get SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, or a VA pension |
| Florida senior homestead exemption (65+) | You look likely to qualify | household adjusted gross income of EVERYONE in the home — not the SSA measure |
| Florida mature-driver car-insurance discount (55+) | You look likely to qualify | age only — there is NO income test |
One deposit, and it screens in for drug help, a program that pays the Part B premium, food help, a phone discount, and a property-tax break — each measured differently, none of which they would have found by being asked "what's your income?"
Example 2 — a veteran couple paying for care
This is the case take-up misses. Say you are a veteran, 78, married, with a $3,800-a-month Social Security deposit and a $2,000-a-month pension — about $69,600 a year. On its face, far too much for help. But you pay $5,000 a month for care. Watch what the care costs do:
| Program | Screen result | How its income is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Extra Help with Medicare drug costs (Part D Low-Income Subsidy) | Looks less likely from what you entered — the agency decides | SSA countable income (your deposit and other income, minus SSA's exclusions), plus a limit on money in the bank |
| Medicare Savings Programs — the state pays your Part B premium | Looks less likely from what you entered — the agency decides | the same SSA countable-income method, with a lower limit on money in the bank |
| VA Aid and Attendance — for veterans and surviving spouses who need care | You look likely to qualify | income MINUS unreimbursed care costs (this is the one where care costs change everything) |
| SNAP food help | You look likely to qualify | NET monthly income (a household with someone 60+ skips the gross test) — care costs come off here too |
| Lifeline — a monthly discount on phone or internet | You look likely to qualify | gross household income vs 135% of the poverty guideline — OR automatic if you get SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, or a VA pension |
| Florida senior homestead exemption (65+) | You look likely to qualify | household adjusted gross income of EVERYONE in the home — not the SSA measure |
| Florida mature-driver car-insurance discount (55+) | You look likely to qualify | age only — there is NO income test |
As a veteran with a spouse, your care costs of $60,000 a year come off your $69,600 income, leaving countable income near $11,324 against a limit of $34,488. This is why a veteran paying for care can have high income and still look likely to qualify. On the raw income this couple would never apply — and that is exactly why so few do. The same care costs also pull them under the SNAP net-income line. Care costs are the question that surfaces both.
Why your answers are safe here
- The screener runs inside your own browser. There is no account and no backend.
- Nothing you type is sent over the internet, saved on your device, or recorded by us. Close the page and it is gone.
- There is no button anywhere that files an application. We only ever link you to the government's own page.
- These are public benefits, not insurance plans — nothing here names, compares, or recommends any Medicare plan.
Read about each program
We show what you look likely to qualify for. You apply, with the agency.
— The Senior Desk