Federal, exists in every state
A Medicaid option you may hear called Katie Beckett
Some states ignore parents’ income for a child with heavy care needs through Katie Beckett. Illinois uses the separate MFTD waiver.
What it is
Some states ignore parents’ income for a child with heavy care needs through Katie Beckett. Illinois uses the separate MFTD waiver.
Illinois does not offer the Katie Beckett option; a child with heavy care needs is reached through the MFTD waiver, which has its own card. There is nothing to apply for under this name here.
Rules
- A disability finding and an institutional level-of-care finding are different tests.
- This is not an invitation to move states; a benefit comparison is not a recommendation to relocate.
What you get
- Background on the name, with the Illinois MFTD waiver as the route to discuss.
Detail
- MFTD considers the state’s care-level score, disability finding and cost test. The Illinois waiver card explains those requirements.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the hospital enrollment specialist or DSCC whether the MFTD waiver fits your child’s care needs.
DSCC Home Care Program, 800-322-3722 · Official page ↗
If it becomes relevant
- Ask DSCC to name the care assessment and application before gathering records.
Good to know
Katie Beckett and MFTD are different program names. Ask which application and care assessment the team means.
Other details
- A past state proposal does not confirm an active application.
“We have heard the name Katie Beckett. Could MFTD fit our child, and what are its benefits and drawbacks?”
Why I’m asking: We want to avoid chasing a program that does not exist here.
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
Ask for the application paperwork this week, gather the child's own account balances, and get it filed within two weeks with fresh signatures.
Your social worker
Gets the application paperwork, sends the level-of-care form to the right clinician, and checks the signatures are current when it goes in.
The care team
Writes the level-of-care description: every daily task, how often, and what happens without it.
- Who decides
- The state Medicaid agency's disability review
- Ask your social worker
- “Can you help me apply for Katie Beckett (TEFRA)? Who on the team writes the level-of-care application paperwork, and how soon can it go in?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the social worker for the state's Katie Beckett application paperwork this week and who on the team writes the level-of-care section.
- Get the state packet this week.
- Have the clinician describe every daily task and what happens without it.
- File in the first two weeks. Coverage reaches back to the application month.
Where it starts: State TEFRA/Katie Beckett application
What to gather
- Pathology report and oncologist's letter with diagnosis and relapse dates
- The doctor's and nurse's description of daily skilled care (line care, medicines, monitoring)
- The child's own accounts (the child's money is tested, usually at $2,000)
How long: Up to 90 days by federal rule for a disability application. File in the first two weeks so coverage reaches back to the application month.
What a yes looks like
Medicaid on the child's own record, no premium in most states, with a level-of-care end date on the letter.
What a no looks like, and the next move
“Level of care not met”: the doctor's description of daily care decides it. Ask what was missing, add the log, and appeal within the notice's period.
Watch out
- Not every state has it. TEFRA states: AK, DC, DE, GA, ID, LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MS, NE, NV, NH, OK, RI, SC, SD, WV, WI. Texas and California use other options. The state item explains.
- The application paperwork expires: signatures usually have to be recent when it reaches the reviewer. Do not let it sit at the clinic.
- A child on maintenance can be re-reviewed at the next level-of-care date. Ask when that date is.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 7, 2026.
What it is worth
Full Medicaid on the child's own record, usually with no premium, regardless of parents' income.
Covers: Full state Medicaid benefits · EPSDT home nursing and equipment once enrolled
Legal protection: The test is disjunctive: hospital, nursing facility or ICF level of care. Any one suffices
What it costs the family: No premium in most states. Nevada charges by income.
The eligibility facts, as published
- State option required
- yes
- Child at home
- yes
- Parental income
- not counted
- Child resource limit
- usually $2,000
- Level of care
- hospital, nursing facility or ICF/IID; any one
- Disability
- SSI medical standard where applicable: documented acute leukemia meets listing 113.06A for at least 24 months from diagnosis or relapse, or at least 12 months after transplant, whichever is later; the agency still verifies evidence
Decisions this site cannot make: Disability · Institutional level of care · Cost-effectiveness (some states)
Expect friction on: Detailed medical packet with recent signatures · Re-review at the level-of-care date
The trap: The level-of-care test is separate from the disability test: the child must need the care of a hospital, a nursing facility, or an intermediate-care facility, any one of them. The doctor's description of daily care decides it, not the diagnosis.
What changes by state: Whether it exists, the name (Georgia calls it the Deeming Waiver), the premium (none in most. Nevada charges), the level-of-care form and how long a letter is valid.
Where I read this
- Medicaid Program — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, read August 27, 2026
- Full List of Medicaid Waivers and Programs — Kids’ Waivers, read August 27, 2026
- 42 CFR 435.912: Timely determination of eligibility — Cornell LII (eCFR mirror), read September 7, 2026