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Medicaid Requirements in Connecticut

Connecticut's Medicaid program pays for many of the medical needs of at-risk populations, such as doctor visits, hospital stays, laboratory services, home health care and others. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 15 percent of Connecticut's population was enrolled in Medicaid in 2007. This included 279,500 children; 116,900 adults; 65,700 senior citizens and 68,200 disabled citizens.

  1. General Eligibility

    • Medicaid was developed to help those most in need of getting quality health care. For Connecticut Medicaid, these groups include those over 65 years old, disabled adults, pregnant women, low-income families with children and the blind. With Medicaid, the insured gets needed health care while payments for the service are made directly to the provider. If a family or individual qualified for Aid To Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) on July 16, 1996, or the state supplement program, they are eligible for Medicaid as well.

    Non-Financial Requirements

    • Besides being part of one of the identified Medicaid groups, a person must also be a U.S. citizen or a legal immigrant. Medicaid recipients must also be residents of Connecticut. Finally, anyone seeking Medicaid coverage must cooperate with a Connecticut Department of Health caseworker to establish eligibility and provide and needed documents.

    Asset Limits

    • Elderly, blind and disabled Medicaid recipients are limited in the amount of countable financial assets they can have: $1,600 worth of assets or $2,400 if they are part of a married couple (as of January 2011). Among the assets that are not counted toward this tally are homes, non-home property (if an effort is being made to sell it), life insurance with less than a $1,500 surrender value, motor vehicles (if needed for employment or transportation to medical appointments) and burial funds.

    Income Limits

    • Elderly, blind and disabled couples receiving Medicaid cannot have a net income of more than $777.92 or $672.10 a month in 2011. The income limit is dependent on where the person lives in the state. If a person is institutionalize, then the limit is $2,022 a month. Net income is a person's gross income minus Connecticut's allowable deductions. These are unearned income shared by a community of people, unearned income shared with a non-relative, income from a boarding house, the first $65 of earned income ($85 for a blind person) and half of what remains after deductions.

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