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

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Arkansas program

Free health insurance for your child (ARKids First-A)

Arkansas's free Medicaid coverage for children under 19. It can sit behind your work insurance.

What it is

Arkansas's free Medicaid coverage for children under 19. It can sit behind your work insurance.

ARKids First-A covers treatment, medicines and other child health care. A drop in pay can change the answer because Arkansas checks current monthly income. The county decides which people and income belong in your child's household.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must be under 19 and live in Arkansas. The county decides household membership and which income counts.
  • This month's income is the test. Annual income divided by 12 is only an estimate.
  • Eligible children generally have 12 months of continuous coverage, in effect since January 1, 2024, subject to limited exceptions.
If your child has work insurance
  • The work plan is billed first. Medicaid is billed next and can pay nothing extra.
  • For covered care with the required approvals, a participating clinic generally cannot charge you the work plan’s leftover cost sharing.
Before relying on it
  • The financial counselor can check the clinic, coverage dates and individual bills.
  • Marketplace tax credits need a separate review when Medicaid starts.
What you get
  • No premium and no copays for your child's covered care.
  • Hospital care, chemotherapy, prescriptions, dental and vision care.
  • Home nursing and rides when your child meets those programs' rules.
Coverage and limits
  • The federal child-health benefit, EPSDT, covers medically necessary services within Medicaid benefit categories for children under 21.
  • Earlier bills may be worth discussing with the financial counselor. For an application made in 2026, Medicaid can cover up to the three preceding months if your child met the rules then; for child applications from January 1, 2027, the federal limit becomes two preceding months. The approval notice gives the actual dates.
  • When a clinic makes a billing or approval mistake, the bill does not automatically become yours. Ask billing to review any unexpected charge before paying.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital financial counselor to help with the family application at Access Arkansas.
  2. Have ready: your child's ID, Social Security number, address, recent pay stubs and insurance cards.
  3. Bring earlier hospital bills and the months they cover.

Access Arkansas / county DHS, 1-855-372-1084 · Official page ↗

After you apply
  • The general decision standard is 45 days for a non-disability Medicaid application. If the decision is delayed, the financial counselor can help check what DHS still needs and discuss the notice and hearing options.
  • The approval notice gives the coverage dates. The hospital financial counselor can check whether the oncology team accepts the coverage.
  • Ask the counselor whether the hospital can arrange temporary Medicaid for your child while the full application is decided.
Good to know

Your work insurance stays in place. It is billed first, and for covered care the clinic generally cannot bill you the rest, whether Medicaid pays anything or not. Give both cards to every clinic and pharmacy.

Other details
  • For covered, properly approved care from an enrolled provider while your child has Medicaid, the provider generally cannot bill you for the work plan’s remaining deductible, copay or coinsurance—even when Medicaid pays nothing extra. The financial counselor can check the claim, coverage dates and any exception before you pay.
  • Worked example: the work plan allows $10,000 and pays $7,000, leaving your $3,000 deductible. Medicaid allows $6,500, less than the work plan already paid, so it adds $0, and the clinic still cannot bill you the $3,000.
  • Medicaid eligibility can affect Marketplace premium tax credits. The enrollment assister can review both plans and their dates before you change coverage.

Federal background: Medicaid child coverage. Medicaid as second insurance.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could ARKids reduce our child's treatment bills alongside any insurance we have? What would change for us, and could you help with the application if it makes sense?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the costs and doctor choices before adding coverage.

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 access.arkansas.gov and report this month's income and any insurance. Name the months that already have bills.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker or hospital financial counselor helps you file and follows the decision.

The care team

Nothing for ordinary ARKids A. Medical records are needed only for TEFRA.

Who decides
The county Department of Human Services office checks income and decides. The state Medicaid program runs the coverage.
Ask your social worker
“Can you help me file the ARKids application today, and can we ask for the coverage to be dated back to the admission?”

How to apply

First step: Apply at access.arkansas.gov or call 1-855-372-1084 this week, and ask the hospital financial counselor to help you fill it in.

  1. Apply at access.arkansas.gov this week, or call 1-855-372-1084.
  2. Ask the hospital financial counselor to sit with you for the application.
  3. List the months that already have bills so the county can date the coverage back.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply at access.arkansas.gov or call 1-855-372-1084. One application covers ARKids A and ARKids B.

What to gather

  • Your child's birth certificate or ID and Social Security number
  • Arkansas address
  • This month's pay for each parent at home (recent pay stubs)
  • Insurance cards, if any
  • The hospital bills you already have

How long: Arkansas has not published a current decision deadline for a child's application where we could read it. Ask the county office for the date when you file.

What a yes looks like

A notice with coverage dates and a card. Check that the hospital and the oncology team take the plan named on it. Coverage then runs 12 months.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Read whether the county said no on income, on a document or on the category. If income is the reason, ask for TEFRA by name and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • Arkansas counts this month's income, not last year's tax return.
  • Do not cancel a work plan to apply. Arkansas Medicaid can sit behind it; the work plan pays first.
  • If the county says income is too high, ask in the same application for TEFRA by name. TEFRA leaves parents' income out.

Dates that change this

2026-04-01: The state's income chart could be read only in a search listing, not opened, so we screen on the published percentage of the poverty line rather than the state's own dollar cells. The county office does the real arithmetic. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

2027-01-01: A federal law shortens how far back new Medicaid coverage reaches for applications made on or after January 1, 2027. Arkansas has published nothing yet on how it will apply it. (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 Arkansas Medicaid for a child under 19 with no premium and no copay, guaranteed for 12 months once approved.

Covers: Hospital and clinic care · Chemotherapy and prescriptions · Anything medically necessary for a child (the federal child-health rule) · Home nursing and personal care when approved · Rides to appointments · Dental and vision

Legal protection: 12 months of guaranteed coverage from January 2024, even if pay rises

What it costs the family: No premium. No copay on ARKids A.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
About 142% of the federal poverty level on the state chart, with a further 5 percentage-point allowance the chart ties to need and to the child having insurance. The dollar cells on that chart could not be opened; the county office decides.
Insurance status condition
none: Arkansas Medicaid pays after other health insurance
Residency
Arkansas
Continuous eligibility
12 months for children under 19 (from January 2024)
Retroactive months
the chart prints 3; unverified, and a federal change lands January 1, 2027
Processing standard
unknown: no current child processing deadline was published where we could read it

Decisions this site cannot make: County DHS office income determination through Access Arkansas

Expect friction on: Choosing a plan the oncology team takes; the chart the limits come from could only be read in a search listing

The trap: Arkansas counts this month's household income, not last year's tax return. Do not cancel a work plan to apply: Arkansas Medicaid is allowed to sit behind it, and the state says the work plan pays first.

Where I read this

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