MinnesotaCare Income Restrictions

MinnesotaCare is a public healthcare program that provides health insurance to eligible Minnesota residents. A person applying for MinnesotaCare must be a resident of the state and meet certain eligibility criteria. MinnesotaCare is administered through local county agencies of the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

Features

• MinnesotaCare provides coverage for a wide variety of health services, including well visits, hospitalization and emergency care. A person receiving MinnesotaCare pays a monthly insurance premium based on a sliding scale method applied to his income and household size. Some applicants have the premium waived due to income.

Types

• Four types of programs fall under MinnesotaCare: MinnesotaCare Expanded, MinnesotaCare Basic Plus, MinnesotaCare Basic Plus One and MinnesotaCare Basic Plus Two. MinnesotaCare Expanded is for pregnant women and children under 21; no copays or coverage limits apply as of 2011. MinnesotaCare Basic Plus and Plus Two are for families with children; copays and restrictions on dental care are part of the plan. Whether a family qualifies for Basic Plus or Plus Two depends on household income. Families with higher income must use Basic Plus, which has more copays for services than Plus Two. Minnesota Basic Plus One is similar to Basic Plus, but is for adults with no children.

Income and Asset Limits

• A family of two applying for any MinnesotaCare program cannot have income of more than $3,340 per month as of 2011. A family of three cannot exceed $4,198 in total monthly income, and a single adult's monthly income must be below $2,257. No applicant, regardless of the number of household members, can have a yearly income of more than $50,000.

  MinnesotaCare limits the amount of assets an recipient can have; assets include additional cars and bank accounts. A single person must have less than $10,000 in assets, and a family of two or more cannot have more than $20,000 worth.

Exemptions

• Some assets are not included during the eligibility determination process, no matter what type of MinnesotaCare the applicant is being considered for. The family home, a car being used by a household member working or looking for work and retirement accounts are excluded. No asset limits exist for pregnant women and children as of 2011.

  A person who has health insurance available through her work cannot receive MinnesotaCare if her employer pays at least half of the monthly insurance premium; however, her children may be able to receive MinnesotaCare if her yearly income is 150 percent of the federal poverty guideline or less.