Eligibility¹

Children's Medicaid2	Separate Children's CHIP2	Pregnant Women3	Parents4
200%	No	200%	13%

ICHIA Option⁵

Children	Pregnant Women
No	No

Waiting Period⁶

Waiting Period	Length
Yes	6 Months (Groups exempt from waiting period: Below 133% < 6 years old Below 100% > 6 years old)

Enrollment Procedures for Children⁷

Program Type8	Joint Application	Face-to-Face Interview	Asset Test9	Paper Documentation of Income Not Requested10
M-CHIP	N/A	No	No	Yes

Enrollment Processes for Children⁷

Presumptive Eligibility	Express Lane Eligibility11	SSA Data Match to Verify Citizenship12
No	No	Yes

Use of Online Application Forms in Medicaid and CHIP¹³

Application Available Online	Application Form Submitted Electronically	Electronic Signature	Paper Documentation of Income Not Requested10
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Renewal Procedures for Children⁷

Frequency of Renewal (in months)	12-month Continuous Eligibility14	Face-to-Face Interview	Paper Documentation of Income Not Requested10
12	No	No	Yes

Renewal Methods for Children⁷

Joint Renewal Form	Administrative Renewal15	Telephone Renewal	Online Renewal	Express Lane11
N/A	Yes	No	No	No

Enrollment Procedures for Parents¹⁶

Simplified Family Application17	Face-to-Face Interview18	Asset Test9	SSA Data Match to Verify Citizenship12	Paper Documentation of Income Not Requested10
Yes	Yes	$1,000	Yes	No

Renewal Procedures for Parents¹⁶

Frequency of Renewal (in months)	Face-to-Face Interview	Paper Documentation of Income Not Requested10
12	No	No

Enrollment Procedures for Pregnant Women

Presumptive Eligibility	Asset Test19
Yes	$3,100

Premium, Enrollment Fee, and Copayment Requirements for Children

Premium/Enrollment Fee Required	Begin at (of the FPL)	Copayments Required	Begin at (of the FPL)
No	N/A	Yes	200%

Source: M. Heberlein, et al., "Holding Steady, Looking Ahead," Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, (January 2011); updated by the Center for Children and Families. Data as of January 1, 2011.

Notes:
1: Income eligibility levels noted are expressed as a percentage of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), without regard to income disregards or deductions.
2: Income eligibility levels for children's Medicaid includes CHIP-funded Medicaid expansions; separate CHIP programs are shown under children's CHIP.
3: Pregnant women's income eligibility levels are shown for regular Medicaid, CHIP, and through the unborn child option.
4: Parents' income eligibility levels are shown for parents without earned incomes (i.e., does not reflect earnings disregards used to determine income eligibility for working parents) applying for comprehensive Medicaid coverage based on a family size of three. Note that several states, including Arkansas, have established coverage for parents through waivers, however this coverage generally offers fewer benefits, higher cost-sharing, or is limited to premium assistance for employer-sponsored coverage.
5: The "ICHIA" option in CHIPRA allows states to use federal funds to cover lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women in Medicaid/CHIP without imposing a five-year waiting period. This indicates whether the state has received approval of a State Plan Amendment to adopt this option.
6: The waiting period only applies to those covered under the 1115 waiver in Arkansas.
7: Information applies to both Medicaid and CHIP, if applicable, unless otherwise noted.
8: States can use their Title XXI (CHIP) funds to expand Medicaid (M-CHIP), cover children through a separate program (S-CHIP), or combine the two approaches (COMBO). Arkansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin have separate CHIP programs for their coverage of pregnant women using the unborn child option. Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin allow families with incomes above the levels shown buy into Medicaid/CHIP.
9: Asset limits noted are for a family of three.
10: In states that do not require families to provide documentation of income at application, states generally verify this information through data matches with other government agencies, such as the Social Security Administration and state departments of labor. Often, families in states with administrative verification have to provide documentation of income if self-employed, if income is questionable, or if the state is unable to administratively verify the information. Some states request paper documentation of income at application, but if the family does not submit the documentation with the application, the state will attempt to administratively verify the information before following up with the family. States that verify income administratively, but continue to ask for income documentation on their applications are not counted as streamlining their procedures. This is different than how it has been defined in the past.
11: The new Express Lane Eligibility option allows states to use data and eligibility findings from other public benefit programs when determining children’s eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP at enrollment or renewal.  States are designated as using Express Lane Eligibility if they have implemented an initiative and have an approved State Plan Amendment from CMS.
12: This CHIPRA option became newly available in 2010 and allows states to conduct data matches with the Social Security Administration to verify citizenship.
13: Unless specified otherwise, the Medicaid online application and electronic submission, electronic signature, and documentation rules apply to both children and parents.  Waiver or state-funded coverage for parents may have different policies.
14: In Arkansas, children above 133% FPL and <6 years of age, and those above 100% FPL and >6 years of age, receive 12 months of continuous eligibility.
15: A state is classified as providing administrative renewal if it sends a pre-populated form with all eligibility information available or a renewal letter to the family in advance of the renewal date. The family is required to either sign and return the form, signaling that they wish to continue coverage, or do nothing. States that send a pre-populated form, but require families to submit paper documentation to continue coverage do not qualify has having implemented administrative renewals.
16: Data represents policies for parents covered through 1931 Medicaid coverage; some states have differing policies for parents and other non-disabled adults covered through waiver or state-funded coverage programs.
17: States are classified as providing a simplified family application if parents can apply for coverage without having to complete a separate application or additional forms. In some states a longer form must be used to apply for family coverage while a shorter, simpler form is available for children's coverage; these states are not classified as offering a simplified family application.
18: In Arkansas, county offices have the option of requiring either a face-to-face or telephone interview for Medicaid. Applicants who have had an active Medicaid case within the past year are not required to do an interview.
19: With the exception of Arkansas, all states with an asset test for pregnancy coverage rely on a standard limit regardless of family size.