Every state has a Medicaid program. It is a public health insurance program that covers people who are low-income. The exact eligibility requirements may vary from one state to another, and across the different programs in one state’s Medicaid program. Here are the eligibility requirements for Medicaid in Indiana.
Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance, (in the same way that Medicare is). It provides access to health care for individuals and families who are low-income and who cannot afford to buy coverage from a private health insurance company. Medicaid is funded, in part, by the federal government. It is also funded by the government of an individual state.
In Indiana, Medicaid is administered by the Indiana Family & Social Services Administration. Indiana has several different portions to their Medicaid program, and each is designed to cover a specific group. I’ve been doing a series of blogs about the Medicaid programs in different states. While some states make it incredibly difficult for people to find out the eligibility requirements, Indiana does not. It is all right there, in “plain English”, on their website.
There are four main criteria that are used to determine eligibility for Medicaid in Indiana. The state of Indiana encourages people to go ahead and apply for Medicaid if they think they could, potentially, be eligible. I believe this is to facilitate the process of getting people who are eligible for Medicaid (even if they think they are not eligible) to get access to health care.
The first criteria is “Income / Family Size”. This part takes a look at the total amount of income earned by an individual or a family from employment. It also takes into account unearned income, such as Social Security Disability payments. The income limitations are adjusted to account for the total number of people in a family.
The second criteria is the person’s age. Some of the programs within Medicaid are designed for people who are within a specific age group.
The third criteria is “Resources / Assets”. This is described as: “Certain things you have are taken into consideration when determining eligibility. Different programs count different resources/assets”. In other states, this could mean things like if a person owns a house, or a car. It could mean the amount of money in the person’s bank accounts.
The fourth criteria is “Medical Needs”. The state of Indiana needs to know what health issues, health conditions, or diseases that a person has. This is because some of the programs within Medicaid are designed to meet the medical needs of a targeted group.
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