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Arkansas

Eligibility¹

Children's Medicaid2	Separate Children's CHIP2	Pregnant Women3	Parents4
200%	N/A	200%	14%

Enrollment Procedures for Children⁵

Program Type6	Joint Application	Face-to-Face Interview	Asset Test7	Administrative Verification of Income8	Presumptive Eligibility
M-CHIP	N/A	No	No	Yes	No

Renewal Procedures for Children⁵

Frequency of Renewal (in months)	12-month Continuous Eligibility	Joint Renewal Form	Face-to-Face Interview	Administrative Verification of Income8
12	No9	N/A	No	Yes

Waiting Period

Waiting Period	Length
Yes	6 months (only applies to children under Medicaid 1115 waiver)

Enrollment Procedures for Parents¹⁰

Family Application	Face-to-Face Interview	Asset Test7
No11	Yes12	$1,000

Renewal Procedures for Parents¹⁰

Frequency of Renewal (in months)	Face-to-Face Interview
12	No

Enrollment Procedures for Pregnant Women¹³

Presumptive Eligibility	Asset Test7
Yes	$3,100

Source: D. Cohen Ross & C. Marks, "Challenges of Providing Health Coverage for Children and Parents in a Recession," Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, (January 2009); updated by the Center for Children and Families.

Notes:
1: Income eligibility levels noted are in effect as of January 2009 and 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 and CHIP (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: Data as of January 2009. Information applies to both Medicaid and CHIP, if applicable, unless otherwise noted.
6: Program type as approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, reported in V. Smith, et al., "SCHIP Enrollment in June 2007: An Update on Current Enrollment and SCHIP Policy Directions," Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (January 2008), updated by the Center for Children and Families.
7: Asset limits noted are for a family of three.
8: In states with administrative verification, families do not have to provide verification of income, and such states generally verify this information by accessing data from other government agencies.
9: Children who qualify under expansion rules receive 12 months continuous eligibility, as opposed to a 12-month renewal period in "regular" Medicaid.
10: Data as of January 2009. Information for parents refer to enrollment/renewal procedures under regular Medicaid; some states have expanded Medicaid for parents (through waivers or state funds) and procedures under the expansion may be different than the procedures for regular Medicaid.
11: The joint Medicaid/CHIP application in Arkansas has a place for parents to indicate they are interested in health coverage for themselves. Parents that indicate an interest in coverage for themselves are required to complete a separate Medicaid application.
12: 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.
13: Data as of January 2009.