Medicaid Covers People With Disabilities Who Work

These rules mean your child can keep getting Medicaid even while making a lot of money at work:

• If your child gets Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits while working, Medicaid will continue automatically.
• If your child used to get SSI benefits, but now makes enough money that their SSI benefits ended, SSI's 1619(b) rule means Medicaid will continue automatically even if your child makes up to $50,138 per year.
• Medicaid Buy-In for Workers with Disabilities (MBIWD) lets your child keep their Medicaid coverage even if their resources or income are higher than the regular Medicaid limits:
  • Your child can have up to $59,900 per year in countable income and qualify for MBIWD. The way MBIWD counts income is very similar to how SSI counts income: almost all unearned income is counted, but less than half of earned income is counted.
  • Your child must have $40,140 per year or less in total unearned income to qualify.
  • This means that if your child doesn't have any unearned income, they could earn up to $120,820 per year and still get Medicaid. Depending on their income, they may have to pay a monthly premium for coverage.
  • Your child can have up to $15,668 in resources and qualify for MBIWD. Note: Money in an ABLE account is not counted against this limit.

If your child doesn't qualify for any of those options, they can get private health coverage through work or on HealthCare.gov. Private insurance companies cannot deny coverage to your child.