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SolveYourProblem
Article Series:
Health Insurance
Medicaid:
Eligibility Requirements
Medicaid
is state regulated and funded health insurance that helps
low-income persons who can't afford medical
care pay for some and/or all of their medical bills. If
you qualify and don’t have medical insurance, Medicaid can
help
you stay healthy and assist you till you find other resources.
Medicaid is available only to people with limited income and
has strict limitations. In order to qualify, you must fall
into a group of persons that meet specific criteria. Medicaid
pays money directly to your health care providers. Depending
on your state's rules, you may also be asked to pay a small
part of the cost (co-payment) for some medical services or
prescription drugs.
Many groups of people can be covered under Medicaid that will
qualify under their own group’s specific guideline. Some examples
of group’s requirements can include your age, whether you are
pregnant, disabled, blind, or aged or your income and resources.
Resources can be cash or any item that can be sold for a substantial
amount of money, or bank accounts, or property. Another requirement
is whether you are a U.S. citizen or a lawfully admitted immigrant.
The rules for counting your income and resources vary from
state to state and from group to group, so you should check
the requirements that pertain to where you are living.
In addition, for those persons living in a nursing home or
at home with disabilities, there are specific rule
and guidelines to be met. Your dependent child or children may be eligible
for coverage if they are U.S. citizens or a lawfully admitted
immigrant, even if you are not. Eligibility for children is
based on the child's status, not the parent's. Also, if someone
else's child lives with you, the child may be eligible even
if you are not because your income and resources will not count
for the child.
General
eligibility requirements you must meet to obtain Medicaid
in your state may vary from other states, but they are pretty
mush based on the same criteria. You must meet the income,
dependent, resources, and other various requirements asked
on the application to qualify. People who qualify are individuals
over 65, blind, and disabled for social security disability
purposes. Others are families or single parents with children
under 21 year old who either don’t make enough money, don’t
have health benefits at a reasonable cost, or are on public
assistance. Single and married persons with a temporary disability,
limited income, special circumstance, or between the ages 59-64
also can meet the criteria. If you need to seek drug or alcohol
treatment, or are the victim of domestic violence you are eligible
for Medicaid during treatment and possibly after the crisis
is over. You can also qualify if you are caring for a child
or disabled person.
When
applying for Medicaid your eligibility is determined
by your income and that can come from various sources. They
compare the income and to the size of the family to determine
if they qualify. Qualifying income is, and not limited to,
earned wages, interest, dividends, social security, veterans’
benefits, pensions, child support, and spouse or partner’s
income if living with them. Types of payments that aren’t considered
countable income are public assistance, social security benefits,
food stamps, low income home energy assistance program benefits,
foster care payments, certain housing and utility subsidies,
and weatherization payments. There are income limits of course
and they are strict, if you exceed them by a penny you don’t
qualify. The limits are different depending on the amount of
family members living in the home and requesting the benefits.
You will have to have proof of your resources and family size
to determine if you have resource limits and are eligible.
Different groups of qualifiers will vary in what resources
they can have. Resource limits do not apply for those persons
with children at home and under the age of 21. Resources that
are counted in eligibility determination are cash, checking
and/or saving accounts, certificates, Christmas or vacation
clubs, stocks and bonds, some types of trust funds, life insurance,
vehicles, revocable burial funds, and non-resident property.
Items that cannot count against you when determining eligibility
are your home, burial space and marker, and one vehicle per
household. If you are a student and get federal grants and
loans, those cannot be counted either. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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