Colorado grants
& benefits: Old Age Pension cash from 60, a rebate split in two, and Health First Colorado.

The Old Age Pension (OAP) was set up in the Colorado Constitution in 1937 and pays cash to eligible residents 60 and older. The full grant standard is $1,032 a month as of January 1, 2026. Wages, Social Security, SSI and veterans payments all count as income and lower the payment.

Savings are capped at $2,000 for an unmarried person and $3,000 for a married person. Bank accounts, CDs, stocks, burial policies, boats, motor homes and second properties all count. You must also pursue any other income you may be owed.

OAP is paid for entirely with Colorado sales, use and excise taxes. Apply on PEAK or take a paper application to your county human services office. Once approved, the money arrives on an EBT card or by direct deposit.

If someone on OAP, Medicaid, Colorado Works or a disability cash program dies, the Burial Assistance Program can pay the funeral provider directly. The state lists a 2024 maximum grant of $1,500, and the total cost of burial or cremation cannot be more than $2,500.

Aid to the Needy Disabled comes in two parts. The Colorado Supplement (AND-CS) tops up SSI for people up to age 59 who get SSI for disability or blindness but not the full federal amount. Its total grant standard is $994 a month from January 1, 2026.

The State Only version (AND-SO) pays $248 a month to residents 18 to 59 whose disability is expected to last 6 months or longer and who are pursuing SSI. If SSI is approved, Social Security repays the state for the months both were paid, a process called Interim Assistance Reimbursement.

Home Care Allowance gives cash to people 5 and older with a disability so they can pay a home care provider for help with bathing, dressing, meals and shopping. The payment floor is $977 across all three tiers. It cannot be combined with Home and Community Based Services.

How federal SSI is calculated, and how to file for it, is explained in our SSI program guide.

Starting January 1, 2026, the Department of Revenue runs two programs where it used to run one. Residents 65 or older, and surviving spouses 58 or older, still apply for the Property Tax/Rent/Heat (PTC) rebate. Disabled people under those ages now claim the Disability Assistance Credit (DAC) on a state tax return.

For the 2025 PTC rebate, total income must be under $19,094 if you file single, or $25,788 if married filing jointly, and you must have paid property tax, rent or heat. The maximum rebate is $1,178. File form DR 0104PTC by December 31, 2027. Applications approved earlier in a year are paid in installments.

The DAC is a refundable credit for people of any age who could not work for medical reasons and got full disability benefits for all of 2025. Federal AGI caps are $20,000 on a single return and $32,000 on a joint return. Claim it on form DR 0104EZ, or DR 0104 with DR 0104CR.

Anyone who qualifies for both can take only one per tax year. Revenue says the DAC often pays more at AGI of $0 to $10,000 or $16,047 to $20,000, plus two narrow bands in between. For single filers the DAC pays:

• AGI up to $10,000: $1,200
• $10,001 to $12,500: $1,000
• $12,501 to $15,000: $800
• $15,001 to $17,500: $600
• $17,501 to $20,000: $400

When the state budget allows, Colorado exempts 50% of the first $200,000 of a qualifying senior's home value, and the state repays local governments for the lost tax. You must be 65 by January 1 and have owned and lived in the home for at least 10 straight years.

Send the short form to your county assessor by July 15. Late forms are taken through August 15, but they lose appeal rights. Once approved, the exemption stays until ownership or occupancy changes, which must be reported within 60 days. Surviving spouses who have not remarried use the long form.

Veterans get the same 50% of $200,000 if honorably discharged with a 100% permanent service-connected rating or individual unemployability status. Gold Star spouses also qualify. The owner must have owned and lived in the home since January 1, and the form is due to the assessor by July 1, or August 1 with good cause.

A home can carry only one exemption a year, even if an owner qualifies as both a senior and a disabled veteran. Questions go to the Division of Property Taxation at 303-864-7777 or your county assessor.

As of April 1, 2026, adults 19 to 65 can get Health First Colorado if monthly income is no more than $1,769 when living alone, or $3,658 in a family of four, which is 133% of the poverty level. Apply on PEAK, by phone at 1-800-221-3943 (State Relay 711), by mail or at a county office.

Working adults with a disability who earn too much for regular coverage can buy in. Income after disregards must be below 450% of the poverty level, and premiums run from $0 to $200 a month under the April 1, 2026 schedule. The dedicated Buy-In line is 1-800-711-6994.

From January 1, 2027, some members ages 19 to 64 must show 80 hours a month of work, school or training, or volunteering, or $580 in monthly earnings. Some will also renew twice a year. Affected members get a letter in fall 2026. These groups do not have to meet the rule:

• Adults 65 or older, and anyone who qualifies for or has Medicare
• Caretakers of children 13 and under, or of anyone with a disability
• People receiving SSI or SSDI
• Veterans with a 100% VA rating or Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability
• Members of a Buy-In program or people getting long-term care services
• People meeting SNAP or Colorado Works work rules

Coverage rules that apply under Medicaid nationwide are in our Medicaid program guide.

LEAP takes applications from November 1, 2026 through April 30. It usually pays $200 to $1,000 toward winter heat, normally sent to the utility, once per season. Heat bundled into rent still counts, unless the home is subsidized housing. Apply on PEAK or call 1-866-HEAT-HELP (1-866-432-8435).

If a shut-off notice has arrived, or propane is running low, say so on the LEAP line. An emergency application can be processed in about 10 days. Approved households may also get furnace or wood stove repair or replacement through the Crisis Intervention Program, which runs all year.

Each county human services department decides SNAP cases. Households with income below 200% of the poverty level may qualify. Apply on PEAK, through the MyCOBenefits app or on paper, and call 800-816-4451 for case status. Counties have 30 days to decide, or about 7 days when a case is expedited.

LEAP is Colorado's share of a federal program, described in our LIHEAP program guide.

Deposit days by Social Security digit, PEAK and the dropped soft drink ban are in our Colorado food stamps guide.

National SNAP income tests and benefit amounts are in our SNAP program guide.