Trends in Medicaid Income Eligibility Limits

Medicaid Eligibility. States establish Medicaid and CHIP income eligibility limits within a broad set of federal minimum requirements and options. Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), states generally could not receive federal Medicaid matching funds to cover non-disabled adults without dependent children. As enacted, the ACA expanded Medicaid eligibility to adults with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) beginning in 2014, although this provision was effectively made a state option by the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling on the ACA. Other eligibility changes established by the ACA went into effect across all states as of January 1, 2014, including establishing a new minimum eligibility level of 138% FPL for children of all ages in Medicaid and changing the method for determining financial eligibility for Medicaid for children, pregnant women, parents, and adults and CHIP to a standard based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI).

Methodology. These tables provide Medicaid and CHIP income eligibility limits for all 50 states and the District of Columbia for children between 2000 and 2022, pregnant women between 2003 and 2022, parents between 2002 and 2022, and other non-disabled adults between 2011 and 2022. The income eligibility limits are reported as a percentage of the FPL; the FPL is calculated annually by the Department of Health and Human Services (available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/index.cfm). The reported income eligibility limits are based on a national survey of state Medicaid and CHIP officials conducted by the Kaiser Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2000-2009; and with the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, 2011-2022.