Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Alabama program

Free health insurance for your child (Alabama Medicaid)

Alabama's free health insurance for children under 19 (SOBRA Medicaid). It can sit behind work insurance.

What it is

Alabama's free health insurance for children under 19 (SOBRA Medicaid). It can sit behind work insurance.

Medicaid can reduce treatment bills even when your child already has insurance. Alabama checks current monthly income, so a recent pay cut can matter. The agency decides your child's household and which income belongs in the calculation.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must be under 19, live in Alabama and meet citizenship or qualifying immigration rules.
  • The agency checks current monthly income. A yearly figure divided by 12 is only an estimate.
  • The agency decides who belongs in the child’s household and which income counts.
  • Published monthly limits effective February 1, 2026: 1 person $1,942; 2 $2,633; 3 $3,324; 4 $4,015; 5 $4,707; 6 $5,398; 7 $6,089; 8 $6,780.
  • The printed limits already reflect the conditional five-point income allowance. It is not added again.
  • A decision is usually due within 45 days of the application, or 90 days when it depends on a disability finding.
Why families with work insurance consider this
  • Medicaid can help with covered costs after work insurance pays.
  • Your child can have both plans if Medicaid approves coverage.
What needs checking
  • Both insurers’ treatment and pharmacy rules still matter.
  • For covered care, a clinic enrolled with Medicaid generally cannot collect your work plan’s share, even when Medicaid pays $0. Both plans’ rules and timely insurance information still matter.
What you get
  • No premium and no copays for your child’s covered care.
  • Hospital care, chemotherapy, prescriptions, dental and vision are included.
  • Home nursing and rides have their own approval rules.
  • Eligible earlier bills can be covered.
What the help includes
  • The child benefit includes needed services within federal Medicaid benefit categories. It does not guarantee every requested service.
  • Your work plan is billed first. For covered care, a clinic enrolled with Medicaid cannot bill you the deductible, coinsurance or copay the work plan left, even when Medicaid pays nothing extra. Give both cards every time, and if a bill arrives anyway, ask billing to check it before paying.
  • Illustration only: covered care has a $10,000 work-plan allowed charge and a $3,000 remaining deductible. The work plan pays $7,000. If Medicaid allows $4,000, it can pay $0 because the first insurer paid more. Under the coverage, clinic-enrollment, approval and information conditions above, the clinic cannot collect that $3,000 deductible from the family.
If you decide to apply
  1. Talk with the hospital social worker about whether adding Medicaid would help. If you decide to pursue it, the counselor can help with the shared form.
  2. Have ready: your child’s identity documents, Alabama address, current income, insurance cards and earlier hospital bills.
  3. Ask the counselor to check whether your oncology team accepts Alabama Medicaid and can bill both plans.

Alabama Medicaid Agency · 1-800-362-1504 · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • Children generally keep coverage for 12 months, with exceptions such as turning 19 or moving out of Alabama.
  • For applications through December 31, 2026, earlier coverage can reach three calendar months before the application month. Your child must be eligible in each earlier month.
  • Federal law reduces the look-back to two calendar months for child applications from January 1, 2027. For a 2027 application, the counselor can check Alabama’s current instructions and any approved exception against your child’s earlier bills.
Good to know

Work insurance pays first, and its rules still apply. Adding Medicaid means keeping track of two insurers.

Other details
  • One Insure Alabama application checks Medicaid and ALL Kids. Their rules about other insurance differ.
  • Before changing insurance, you and the counselor can compare treatment access, premiums and the dates each plan covers.

Federal background: Medicaid · Using Medicaid with insurance you already have.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Medicaid reduce our child’s treatment bills, and what would adding it mean for our current insurance? If it is worth applying, could you help with the form and earlier bills?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand whether Medicaid would cover more of treatment without disrupting our child’s care.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

File at Insure Alabama, report this month's income and any insurance, and name the months with old bills.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker or the hospital's financial counsellor helps you file and chases the decision.

The care team

Nothing for ordinary child Medicaid.

Who decides
The Alabama Medicaid Agency decides and runs the coverage.
Ask your social worker
“Can you help me file the Insure Alabama application today, and list the bills from the three months before?”

How to apply

First step: The social worker can help with the joint Medicaid and ALL Kids application at insurealabama.adph.state.al.us or 1-800-362-1504.

  1. Apply at Insure Alabama this week; the same form covers ALL Kids.
  2. List every month with bills so the three-month look-back covers the admission.
  3. Ask the hospital's financial counsellor to check that the oncology team bills Alabama Medicaid.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply online at Insure Alabama, which is one application for SOBRA Medicaid and ALL Kids, or ask the hospital's financial counsellor to sit with you and file it.

What to gather

  • Child's birth certificate or identity document and Social Security number
  • Alabama address
  • This month's income for each adult in the home
  • Insurance cards, if any
  • Hospital bills from the three months before you apply

How long: Most non-disability applications have a 45-day decision standard; disability determinations can take 90 days, with permitted exceptions. Retroactive coverage may reach three months before the application month if eligible in each month. Federal law reduces this to two months for this eligibility group for applications from January 1, 2027; Medicaid confirms implementation and the actual coverage dates.

What a yes looks like

A notice with coverage dates and a Medicaid number the hospital can bill. Twelve months of coverage follow.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Check whether the reason was income, a missing document or the citizenship question. If it was income, the same application should be tested for ALL Kids, which reaches much higher.

Watch out

  • Alabama's printed dollars already include the 5-point allowance, so there is no second, higher number to hope for.
  • A child can keep private insurance and also have Medicaid. The team can review how the two plans work together.
  • Other insurance usually pays first. Medicaid may pay eligible remaining charges only when its coverage, provider and billing rules are met.

Dates that change this

2026-02-01: The income bands are the table published as effective February 1, 2026. Alabama's next yearly update date was not published.

2027-01-01: Coverage reaches back up to three months before the application month now, and two months for applications made from January 1, 2027. Alabama's own notice putting that into practice was not found. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Full Medicaid with no premium and no child copays. The monthly line is $2,633 for two people, $3,324 for three, $4,015 for four, $4,707 for five and $5,398 for six.

  • $2,633/month — Household of 2, monthly income line
  • $3,324/month — Household of 3, monthly income line
  • $4,015/month — Household of 4, monthly income line
  • $4,707/month — Household of 5, monthly income line
  • $5,398/month — Household of 6, monthly income line
  • $1,942/month — Household of 1, monthly income line
  • $6,089/month — Household of 7, monthly income line
  • $6,780/month — Household of 8, monthly income line

Covers: Hospital and clinic care · Chemotherapy and prescriptions · EPSDT covers medically necessary services within federal Medicaid benefit categories for eligible children under 21, including services beyond ordinary adult limits. · Private duty nursing and personal care when approved · Rides to appointments, and meals and lodging for overnight travel · Dental and vision

Legal protection: Children generally receive 12 months of continuous eligibility, with limited exceptions such as turning 19 or leaving the state. · Bills from the three months before the application month can be covered

What it costs the family: No premium. No copays for a child.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
141% of the federal poverty level with a 5-point disregard applied only when it changes the answer, which the published dollar bands already reflect
Insurance status condition
none: Medicaid is secondary to other insurance, and the other plan's own requirements must be met first
Residency
Alabama; the child must be a United States citizen or meet the alienage requirements
Continuous eligibility
12 months
Retroactive months
Up to three months before the application month if eligible in each month. Federal law reduces this to two months for this group for applications from January 1, 2027; Medicaid confirms implementation.
Processing standard
45 days for most non-disability applications; 90 days for disability determinations, subject to permitted exceptions.

Decisions this site cannot make: Alabama Medicaid MAGI determination through Insure Alabama

Expect friction on: Choosing providers that take Alabama Medicaid for oncology

The trap: Alabama does not publish a separate allowance column. The rule sets the line at 141 percent of the poverty level and adds a 5-point allowance only when income would otherwise be too high, which is already baked into the printed dollars. Do not cancel private insurance to apply.

Where I read this

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