SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME & MEDICAID

Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia provide Medicaid eligibility to people that have been approved for Supplemental Security Income benefits. In those states, the Supplemental Security Income application is also the Medicaid application. Medicaid eligibility starts in the same month as Supplemental Security Income eligibility.

Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah use the same rules to decide eligibility for Medicaid as SSA uses for Supplemental Security Income, but require the filing of a separate application.

The following states use their own eligibility rules for Medicaid, which are different from SSA’s Supplemental Security Income rules: Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Virginia. In these states, a separate application for Medicaid must be filed.

Medicaid provides health coverage to over 8.8 million non-elderly individuals with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities who are eligible for Medicaid are entitled to all services that are deemed medically necessary. States are required to cover certain mandatory benefits and can choose to provide other optional benefits through the Medicaid program. Some of the mandatory services include in-patient hospital services, outpatient hospital services, nursing facility services, home health services, and physician services.