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Working Parents

States can raise Medicaid income eligibility for working poor families. Currently, over 80% of the uninsured are in working families.1

States must expand their Medicaid program to parents and other adults with incomes up to 133% of the Federal Poverty Level or FPL (that's about $14,440 for a single person or $29,000 for a family of four) by 2014.  Adults who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but who have incomes at or below 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (that's $43,320 for a single person or $88,200 for a family of four) will be eligible for subsidies to help pay health insurance premiums and out-of-pockets costs starting in 2014.  These subsidies can be used for coverage purchased through new state-based "Health Insurance Exchanges."

Does the state Medicaid program cover working parents with incomes at or above 200 percent of the 2009 FPL?

States receive a "meets policy" when they expand their Medicaid income eligibility requirements to cover parents with incomes at or above 200 percent of FPL.  States receive a "limited policy" when they expand the Medicaid eligibility over 74 percent but below 200 percent of FPL.  States receive a "no policy" if they fail to raise these requirements beyond 74 percent of FPL.

State Strength of Policy Change from 2007
Alabama No Policy Same
Alaska Limited Policy Same
Arizona Limited Policy Worse
Arkansas No Policy Same
California Limited Policy Same
Colorado No Policy Same
Connecticut Limited Policy Same
Delaware Limited Policy Same
District of Columbia Meets Policy Same
Florida No Policy Same
Georgia No Policy Same
Hawaii Limited Policy Same
Idaho No Policy Same
Illinois Limited Policy Same
Indiana No Policy Same
Iowa Limited Policy Same
Kansas No Policy Same
Kentucky No Policy Same
Louisiana No Policy Same
Maine Meets Policy Same
Maryland Limited Policy Better
Massachusetts Limited Policy Same
Michigan No Policy Same
Minnesota Meets Policy Same
Mississippi No Policy Same
Missouri No Policy Same
Montana No Policy Same
Nebraska No Policy Same
Nevada Limited Policy Same
New Hampshire No Policy Same
New Jersey Meets Policy Better
New Mexico No Policy Same
New York Limited Policy Same
North Carolina No Policy Same
North Dakota No Policy Same
Ohio Limited Policy Same
Oklahoma No Policy Same
Oregon No Policy Worse
Pennsylvania No Policy Same
Rhode Island Limited Policy Same
South Carolina Limited Policy Same
South Dakota No Policy Same
Tennessee Limited Policy Same
Texas No Policy Same
Utah No Policy Same
Vermont Limited Policy Same
Virginia No Policy Same
Washington No Policy Worse
West Virginia No Policy Same
Wisconsin Meets Policy Better
Wyoming No Policy Same

Policy Indicator Counts
Meets Policy: 
5
Limited Policy: 
17
Weak Policy: 
0
No/Harmful Policy: 
29
Better: 
3
Same: 
45
Worse: 
3

Data Source: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, “Where are States Today?
Medicaid and State-Funded Coverage Eligibility Levels for Low-Income Adults,” December 2009, available at http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/7993.pdf, accessed September 7, 2010.

Footnotes

1 Employee Benefit Research Institute, “Issue Brief 31: Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the Uninsured: Analysis of the March 2008 Current Population Survey,” September 2008, 13, available at http://www.ebri.org/pdf/briefspdf/EBRI_IB_09a-2008.pdf, accessed August 26, 2010.

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