Medicaid Income Limits by State

Introduction

Medicaid is a federal program designed to provide healthcare assistance to citizens with certain needs. Medicaid is the largest source of funding for health and medical-related services for people with low income in the United States. The benchmark primarily used by Medicaid in determining eligibility is the federal poverty level, an amount set every year by the federal government. Federal poverty levels have set amounts depending on how many persons are in the household and where the household is located (Alaska and Hawaii have different amounts than the lower forty-eight states for example).

When determining Medicaid eligibility based on income, the federal poverty level for the household is multiplied by the state’s income limit and divided by 100. Each state sets its own income limit; however, the most frequent income limit is 138% of the federal poverty level.

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