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

Childhood Cancer Lantern
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Georgia program

Medicaid without counting parents' income (Katie Beckett)

Full Medicaid for a child under 19 living at home. Parents’ income does not count.

What it is

Full Medicaid for a child under 19 living at home. Parents’ income does not count.

Katie Beckett can matter when family income blocks ordinary Medicaid. Georgia still checks your child’s own money and whether their care meets an institutional level. A diagnosis alone does not settle the care test.

Eligibility rules
  • Georgia’s July 2026 policy includes children age 18 and younger living at home. Existing coverage continues through the month of the 19th birthday under the policy’s transition rules. Parents’ income and resources are disregarded. Georgia does not offer a Family Opportunity Act buy-in.
  • The 2026 child-income ceiling is $2,982 a month, with a $2,000 child-resource limit. Parents’ income is disregarded. DFCS checks ownership and which money counts.
  • The child must meet Social Security’s disability standard. Acute leukemia meets the childhood listing for at least 24 months from diagnosis or relapse, subject to the listing rules.
  • Your child's care must match what a hospital or nursing facility would provide; the clinical team documents which. A list of daily tasks supports that but does not decide it.
  • Home-care costs are compared with the institution named in the level-of-care letter. Disability and cost-effectiveness remain separate tests.
What you get
  • Full Medicaid with no premium or patient liability, alongside private insurance if you have it.
  • A door to appointment rides, premium help and a separate home-care assessment.
What the help includes
  • Coverage reaches back to the application month after approval. Home nursing and parent-paid personal care require their own GAPP review.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the oncology social worker about a Gateway application and the invited Katie Beckett portal.
  2. Have ready: the child’s account and income records, birth certificate and a two-week daily-care log.
  3. Ask the clinic to coordinate the signed medical packet so every signature is within 90 days of submission.

Georgia Katie Beckett team: 678-248-7449 · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The published disability application standard is 90 days. The team can explain what is needed for a complete packet and the current processing time. That standard is not an approval promise.
  • Medical approval should last at least two years, while financial review is yearly. The team can explain an exception if the care letter gives only one year.
  • The packet is three medical forms the clinic signs plus the Gateway application; the social worker can list them by name. Every signature must be less than 90 days old when it goes in.
  • A denial notice should identify disability, care needs, cost, child money or missing paperwork. The team can explain the 30-day reconsideration steps.
Good to know

A portal account alone is not an application. You do not need an SSI denial first.

Other details
  • Daily oral medicine and monthly visits in maintenance may need more care evidence. A log can describe line care, dosing changes, fever checks and admissions without assuming that any one task proves eligibility.
  • NOW and COMP are separate developmental-disability waiver routes, not general leukemia programs. GAPP is a Medicaid service review after eligibility, rather than an alternative income category.

Federal background: A Medicaid option you may hear called Katie Beckett.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Would our child’s daily care meet Katie Beckett’s requirements, and what evidence would the team need? What are the benefits and drawbacks of adding Medicaid this way, and would you help us apply if you recommend it?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know whether Medicaid is possible even if our earnings are above the ordinary limit.

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 through Gateway, report accounts in your child's name, and sign the care forms. Keep a daily-care log and answer DFCS within 30 days.

Your social worker

The social worker can explain the Gateway application, coordinate the signed medical packet and track missing information. The application month affects coverage; an arbitrary first-two-weeks window is not a published deadline.

The care team

The doctor completes the medical forms and describes daily care, including line care, fever thresholds, dosing based on blood counts and steroid monitoring.

Who decides
The Division of Family and Children Services checks the child's money. Alliant checks disability and daily care needs for Georgia's Department of Community Health.
Ask your social worker
“Could you help us decide whether to pursue Katie Beckett, explain the medical forms and track the packet if we apply?”

How to apply

First step: The social worker can explain the Gateway application, coordinate the signed medical packet and track missing information. The application month affects coverage; an arbitrary first-two-weeks window is not a published deadline.

  1. The social worker can explain the Gateway application, coordinate the signed medical packet and track missing information. The application month affects coverage; an arbitrary first-two-weeks window is not a published deadline.
  2. Keep a two-week log of daily care tasks.
  3. Return anything DFCS asks for within 30 days. Check every signature date.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply through Gateway, then use the Katie Beckett portal when invited. Submit the signed medical packet there.

What to gather

  • Child's Social Security number and birth certificate
  • Any account in the child's name (must be under $2,000) and any income of the child's own (under $2,982 a month)
  • Pediatric DMA-6A (parent, physician, MD or RN), DMA-706 (physician and parent), DMA-704 (physician), all signed within 90 days of filing
  • A two-week log of daily care: line care, count-dependent dosing, fever checks, admissions
  • Gateway application: Form 94
  • Form 708 is an internal cost-comparison form. Ask the team whether it needs anything from you.

How long: The published disability application standard is 90 days. The team confirms packet completeness and current processing time. Coverage reaches back to the application month; care approval lasts at least two years and financial review is yearly.

What a yes looks like

Full Medicaid with a start date back to the application month and a daily-care letter with an end date about two years out. For most children on current protocols that first medical re-review falls at or after the end of treatment. Check the date printed on the letter.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask which test failed: disability, daily care needs, cost comparison, the child's money or a missing form. In families' experience, intensive-treatment denials often involve expired signatures, missing cost forms or child-asset questions. Ask about the 30-day reconsideration steps. Maintenance with only daily oral chemo and a monthly visit usually needs more evidence.

Watch out

  • Every signature must be within 90 days of submission. Ask the clinic to send the packet before signatures expire.
  • A care approval should last at least two years. If yours says one year, ask the Katie Beckett team which exception applies: 678-248-7449.
  • You do not need an SSI denial first. Georgia dropped that rule in 2023, and a portal account alone does not file an application.

Dates that change this

2026-04-15: The Katie Beckett portal opens by invitation after the Gateway application.

2026-01-01: Level-of-care approvals are valid no less than two years for new and existing applicants; one DFCS manual sentence still says one year.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 8, 2026.

What it is worth

Full Georgia Medicaid behind your plan, whatever the parents earn. No premium and no patient liability.

Covers: Full Georgia Medicaid benefits · EPSDT · GAPP eligibility once enrolled · Rides to appointments

What it costs the family: No premium and no patient liability ('There is no patient liability for this COA').

The eligibility facts, as published

Age max exclusive
19
Lives at home
yes
Parental income
disregarded
Child income monthly max usd
2982
Child resources max usd
2000
Disability
SSA childhood standard (acute leukemia meets it for 24 months from diagnosis or relapse)
Level of care
suitable candidate for nursing-facility, hospital or ICF/IID care, as alternatives; the nursing-facility standard is used for a home-cared chemotherapy child
Cost effectiveness
home cost compared with the institution Alliant records on the LOC letter
Premium
none
Family opportunity act buy in
not adopted

Decisions this site cannot make: Disability and daily care needed (Alliant/AHS for DCH) · Child financial eligibility (DFCS) · Georgia compares the cost of care at home with institutional care.

Expect friction on: Physician forms signed within 90 days of submission · Portal by invitation after the Gateway application · The published disability application standard is 90 days. The team confirms packet completeness and current processing time.

The trap: Packets expire: every signature must be within 90 days of submission, so a packet that sits at the clinic has to be re-signed.

Where I read this

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