Medicaid Eligibility for Individuals with Disabilities

This issue paper updates the July 1999 report and provides a general overview of federal Medicaid eligibility policy for the low-income disabled population. This paper focuses on four broad groups of individuals with disabilities: children under 18; adults under 65 who are not living in institutions; adults under 65 who are living in institutions; and adults under 65 who are also eligible for Medicare. In addition, this paper includes the new eligibility options offered under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Act of 1999. This issue paper does not attempt to describe Medicaid eligibility policy for the low-income disabled in each state. Instead, the focus is on the federal policies that structure the eligibility choices that states make.