MBIWD Eligibility for Young People

If you get a job and are either making too much money or have saved up too much money to get Medicaid, you might qualify for the Medicaid Buy-In for Workers with Disabilities (MBIWD) program. MBIWD offers the same coverage as standard Medicaid, but you may have to pay a monthly premium to keep your coverage.

To qualify for MBIWD, you must:

• Be 16 – 64 years old
• Live in Ohio
• Be a U.S. citizen or a qualified immigrant
• Be working
• Have a disability that meets Social Security’s medical standards.
  • The rules are different if you're under 18 or over 18. See this article's SSI page for more information about the differences.
  • SSA’s disability rules related to earned income do not apply.
• Have countable income at or below $57,650 per year.
  • MBIWD counts earned income and unearned income differently. You could actually earn up to $116,320 per year and still qualify for MBIWD, depending on your unearned income.
  • For eligibility, only your income is counted, not the income of other household members.
• Have resources below $14,848 .
  • The house you live in, one car, and the money you put into an ABLE account are not counted. Learn more about ABLE accounts.

You have to pay a monthly premium to get MBIWD coverage in any month where your income is higher than $1,883. The amount of your premium depends on your income and your family's income, as well as your family's medical expenses. To learn how much your premium might be, try DB101's MBIWD Estimator.

How to Apply for MBIWD

There are two ways to apply for MBIWD. You can:

• Apply online and specify that you are applying for MBIWD, or
• Fill out the combined application form (other languages) and the MBIWD Addendum form and submit them to your County Department of Job and Family Services (CDJFS) office.

For help with your application, visit or call your local County Department of Job and Family Services (CDJFS) office or call the Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline at 1-800-324-8680 or 1-800-292-3572 (TTY).

If it turns out you are not eligible for Medicaid Buy-In for Workers with Disabilities, you may be able to get private insurance subsidized by the government through tax credits.

Learn more about MBIWD in DB101’s How Health Benefits Work article.