Vermont grants
& benefits: Dr. Dynasaur, Medicare help with no savings test, VPharm and a renter credit.

Per KFF, Vermont put the ACA Medicaid expansion in place on January 1, 2014. The adult group covers ages 19 to 64 without Medicare, and its 138% poverty ceiling works out, by DVHA's math, to roughly $22,025 a year for a single adult and $45,540 for four people.

Dr. Dynasaur is the version for kids under 19 in homes earning as much as 317% of poverty, and for pregnant people at 213% or less. It covers dental care including orthodontics, eyeglasses and hearing aids, with no copays for prescriptions, dental visits or outpatient hospital visits.

A child enrolled in Dr. Dynasaur keeps coverage for 12 months in a row, with few exceptions, even if other people in the home lose Medicaid. Pregnancy coverage now runs for 12 months after the pregnancy ends. Apply through Vermont Health Connect online or by phone at 1-855-899-9600.

Vermont's community engagement test begins with January 2027 applications from adults 19 to 64 and reaches current members at renewals from March 1, 2027. A single month of $580 in earnings, or 80 hours mixing jobs, classes, service and training, passes. Their eligibility gets checked twice a year.

The national version of that test, and who is excused from it, is laid out in our Medicaid work requirements guide.

For how Medicaid works outside Vermont, read our Medicaid program guide.

Vermont ended its Specified Low-Income Beneficiary (SLMB) program on December 31, 2025 and moved most of its members into the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program, which pays for more. DVHA does not count savings or property for QMB or for the Qualifying Individual (QI) program.

QMB picks up both Medicare premiums plus deductibles, coinsurance and copays. Its 2026 ceiling is 150% of poverty, which DVHA lists as $1,995 a month single and $2,707 married.

The QI band runs from just over 150% to 202% of poverty, $2,685 single or $3,645 married, and covers the Part B premium alone. QDWI, the third option, is for disabled workers under 65 whose return to a job cost them premium-free Part A; it covers that Part A bill.

Since April 1, 2026, relatives who live with you and rely on you or your spouse for at least half of their support can count in your household, which may help you qualify for a new or better program. Report them at 1-800-250-8427. The 201P form lets you apply for Medicare cost help without applying for Medicaid.

VPharm helps Vermonters who have Medicare Part D coverage pay for their medicines. It has three income bands for 2026, each with a monthly premium per person: $15 up to 150% of poverty, $20 above 150% and up to 175%, and $50 above 175% and up to 225%.

For a household of one, those bands top out at $1,995, $2,328 and $2,993 a month. VPharm members must also apply for federal Extra Help, the Low-Income Subsidy. Pay the first premium bill right away and coverage can start on the first day of the next month.

Healthy Vermonters has no premium. It gives Medicaid pricing on prescriptions to people with no drug coverage, or whose plan has reached its yearly maximum. The income limit is 350% of poverty for adults under 65 who are not disabled, and 400% for people 65 or older, blind or disabled.

Vermont's Renter Credit is refundable and equals 10% of HUD's fair market rent for an apartment sized to your household in your county. The Department of Taxes gives this example: two people in Middlebury, Addison County, get a credit based on $16,920 of yearly rent for 2025, or $1,692.

Eligibility means Vermont was home for the full year, paid rent in Vermont for at least six months, not be claimed as a dependent, and have income at or below 65% of the county median for your family size. Below 30% of median you get the full credit, and it tapers off above that with no cliff.

File Form RCC-146 in myVTax, with tax software, or on paper, and include the School Property Account Number (SPAN) for your address. Claims for 2025 were due April 15, 2026, and none are accepted after October 15, 2026. If a subsidy covers part of your rent, the credit counts only the rent you paid.

Vermont homeowners who file a Homestead Declaration can claim the Property Tax Credit on Form HS-122 with Schedule HI-144. For 2025 household income the cap is $115,400. The credit can reach $5,600 against the state education tax and $2,400 against the municipal tax, and shows as a State Payment on the bill.

Claims are due with the income tax return, generally April 15. If the Homestead Declaration goes in by October 15, the credit claim can follow as late as March 15 of the next year, but a $150 processing fee comes out of the credit.

Veterans with a VA disability rating of at least 50%, and their spouses, surviving spouses or dependents, can take at least $10,000 off the home's taxable value, more in some towns. The veteran must also receive 50% service-connected compensation, a VA pension, or a permanent medical military retirement.

Each year by May 1, send the VA Summary of Benefits letter and the exemption form to the Vermont Office of Veterans Affairs, 118 State St., Montpelier, VT 05602. Its phone number is 802-828-3379. Veterans can claim both the exemption and the Property Tax Credit.

DCF runs 3SquaresVT, Vermont's SNAP. Gross income at 185% of poverty or less opens the door, and so does getting the Vermont Earned Income Tax Credit in a family with children. Homes that include a person aged 60 plus or a disabled member can get in above that line, though DCF then looks at what they own.

When everyone in the home is 65 or older or receives SSI, benefits go into a bank account as cash rather than onto an EBT card. Apply in myBenefits or on Form 202. Vermont is not on USDA's list of states with SNAP food restriction waivers, so the usual grocery rules apply.

Benefit math and the national rules behind 3SquaresVT are in our SNAP program guide.