When applying for medicaid, does the goverment consider bills when looking at income?

Question

Our family's income is about $48,000 a year for a family of four. The limit for our family size is $39,000. Obviously, we are above the income level. I know they give working members of the family a $90/mo credit. Does childcare cost waive any of the income at all? What about other bills? I am stuggling to pay high health insurance costs. If you took the cost of my insurance off of my income it would be $6000/year less! I don't expect anything for me, but it would be a major help if I could get my children insured. What exactly do they consider?

Answer 1

Go see a d**n lawyer.  answers.yahoo.com is pretty useless.

Answer 2

Medicaid only considers income (at least, in every state that I'm aware of) - they consider things like bills and childcare when setting the income levels.

By the way, $48K is the median household income in the United States.  You are exactly in the middle for household income in the US - half the households are worse off than you are.  I wouldn't necessarily expect to be Medicaid eligible considering that, since being "in the middle" of all households isn't exactly low-income.

However, if your state has a CHIP plan, you could check to see about whether your children are eligible.  In most states, the income guidelines for CHIP are slightly more relaxed than for Medicaid.  If your biggest concern is getting coverage for your kids, you might have better luck looking into that.

Answer 3

Income is the only consideration. They don't give you credit for things like childcare. However, you may still qualify for a "buy in" plan. They usually allow a higher income. You will have some out of pocket expenses (co-pays and premiums). Ask about it when you apply.

In some states (like CA) any application that is over the income guidelines for medi-cal (medicaid in other states)is referred to this program for consideration.