Medicaid Covers People With Disabilities Who Work

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

• If your child gets SSI benefits while working, Medicaid will continue automatically.
• If your child used to get SSI benefits, but now makes enough money that SSI benefits ended, SSI's 1619(b) rule means Medicaid will continue automatically even if your child makes up to $43,228 per year.
• If your child doesn't get SSI, but is under 22, gets Medicaid based on a disability, and is also regularly attending school, the Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) means that if your child gets a job, Medicaid coverage will probably continue.
• Freedom to Work lets your child pay a monthly premium to get Medicaid coverage.
  • When applying, your child's countable income must be at or below $3,138 per month, but earned income and unearned income are counted differently, so your child could work and make more than the limit and still qualify.
  • After coverage starts, it doesn't matter how much your child earns and your child can have up to $75,000 in resources — your child can still have Freedom to Work coverage!
• If your child's income is even higher than that, he or she can get private health coverage through work or on HealthCare.gov. Private insurance companies cannot deny coverage to your child.