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State of Ohio Requirements for a Medical Card

The Ohio Medicaid program issues a medical card to all Ohioans receiving Medicaid benefits. Medicaid is a federal and state program that provides health care to eligible low-income people, according to Medical News Today. However, each state gets to decide on its own who is eligible, what kinds of medical services are offered and how much members have to pay. To get an Ohio medical card, you must be receiving Medicaid. Like other states, Ohio has special requirements for each kind of Medicaid program.

  1. General Requirements

    • Basic requirements must be met in order for one to receive Medicaid. You must be a U.S. citizen or meet Medicaid's citizenship rules, according to Ohio Medicaid (see Resources for Medicaid's citizenship criteria). You also need to be an Ohio resident and possess a social security number.

    Pregnant Women, Families and Children

    • Pregnant women and families with children under age 19 can get Medicaid through a program called Healthy Start if their income is 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or lower. Another program, Healthy Families, accepts families with at least one child under age 19 and household incomes that are 90 percent of the FPL or less.

      Refer to Healthy Start & Healthy Families under Income Guidelines for details on income limits (see Resources). Even if you don't know whether or not you qualify for Medicaid based on income, Ohio Medicaid encourages you to apply anyway because you may be able to receive some benefits.

    Disabled, Blind and Elderly

    • Adults who are 65 years old or older, disabled according to the Social Security Administration's definition of disability or legally blind may be Medicaid-eligible, according to Ohio's Medicaid website. Your income must fall within 64 percent of the FPL and you must have limited resources. See the link Older Adults & People With Disabilities under Income Guidelines in Resources for details.

      If you think you qualify, you'll need to show evidence of your income, resources, citizenship and disability/age. An in-person interview with your local Medicaid office will be required.

    Women with Breast and Cervical Cancer

    • Medicaid is available to women who have been diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer through an Ohio Department of Health project called the Breast and Cervical Cancer Project. Eligible women must not have health insurance, must require treatment for their condition and must satisfy the general requirements, according to the Ohio Medicaid website.

    Other Groups

    • Medicaid will help you pay for emergency medical treatment if you satisfy all Medicaid criteria except the citizenship requirement. In other words, if you are not a U.S. citizen but are an Ohio resident and meet the financial and population group requirements (pregnant, family with children, disabled, blind or elderly), Medicaid will pay for an emergency medical problem if you submit an application asking for assistance.

      Refugees can receive Medicaid benefits through the Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) program if they meet these requirements: They have recently arrived in the United States or lived here for less than eight months, have an income that is 100 percent of the federal poverty level or lower and attend an in-person interview where they show proof of their income and legal status.

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