|  | Healthcare Industry | Medicaid

Income Requirements for Disability Medicaid in Louisiana

Louisiana residents may be eligible for Disability Medicaid if they are disabled or elderly and their resources and income fall below a certain threshold. While eligibility for the general Medicaid program is tied to eligibility for the state's Supplemental Security Income disability benefits, residents may apply for Disability Medicaid even before the federal Social Security Administration determines their SSI eligibility.

  1. Income Limits for Individuals

    • Eligibility for Disability Medicaid in Louisiana depends in part on how much income you earn from work and how much you receive in unearned income such as pensions, federal and state benefits, alimony and child support. As of 2010, your adjusted monthly income, benefits included, must be less than $674 in order to enroll in the Disability Medicaid program. Your actual income can exceed that mark because the state applies deductions. From your earned income, the state takes out $65 and then cuts the remaining total in half for the purposes of the calculation. It also disregards $20 in Supplemental Security Income benefits.

    Income Limits for Couples

    • Louisiana couples may apply for Disability Medicaid together if both have disabilities. As of 2010, couples may not combine for more than $1,011 in total monthly income to be eligible. In this calculation, the state makes only one $20 and one $65 exclusion per couple, not one for each individual.

    Individuals With an Ineligible Spouse

    • Individuals with a spouse who is not disabled may have to count their spouse's income in determining their own eligibility for Disability Medicaid. If you fall into this category, the state first calculates your eligibility as an individual using the aforementioned method. If it determines that you are eligible, it considers your spouse's monthly income. If, after exclusions, your spouse's monthly income totals more than $337 (as of 2010), your eligibility for Disability Medicaid depends on the income criteria for couples. In that scenario, if your combined monthly income is more than $1,011, you are not eligible for Disability Medicaid. However, the limit rises by $337 per child in the family.

    Individuals or Couples With a Disabled Child

    • If a child is younger than 18 and is disabled, the state will consider the parents' income when determining the child's eligibility for Disability Medicaid. The $674 monthly income limit applies, along with the same automatic deductions and allowances for other children in the home. The state does not take into account the parents' income when determining the eligibility of newborns who have been in a hospital since birth and most likely will remain in the hospital for more than a month.

    Resources

    • Keep in mind that monthly income is not the only financial measure Louisiana considers when you apply for Disability Medicaid. Your countable resources--such as money in a bank account, real estate or stock portfolio--must be less in value than the threshold for SSI eligibility. In 2010, resources could not total more than $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples.

Medicaid - Related Articles