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

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Indiana program

Free health insurance for your child (Hoosier Healthwise)

Indiana's free Medicaid plan for children under 19. It can sit behind insurance you already have.

What it is

Indiana's free Medicaid plan for children under 19. It can sit behind insurance you already have.

Hoosier Healthwise Package A covers children whose household income fits Indiana's age-based line. Work insurance does not prevent coverage. Indiana decides who belongs in your child's household and which income counts.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must live in Indiana and be under 19. A cancer diagnosis is not required.
  • The state uses the child's tax household and current monthly income. Annual income divided by 12 is only an estimate.
  • From March 1, 2026 the line for a child aged 1 to 18 is about $3,598 a month for three people, $4,345 for four and $5,093 for five. A baby under 1 has a higher line.
  • A child who is a citizen or lawfully in the country can qualify; the counselor checks the child's own status, not a parent's. Some immigration categories change from October 2026, so ask the counselor to confirm your child's.
Why families with work insurance still consider Medicaid
  • Work insurance does not prevent ordinary child Medicaid eligibility. It gets billed first.
  • Covered child care has no Medicaid premium or copay.
  • Rides and medically needed home nursing can matter alongside the work plan.
  • For covered care with the required approvals, a participating hospital or clinic must accept Medicaid's payment decision. It cannot bill you the work plan's deductible, coinsurance or copay just because Medicaid pays nothing extra. Noncovered care and a properly explained voluntary private-pay agreement have different rules.
What to compare before changing coverage
  • The exact Medicaid plan must work with the hospital, oncology team and pharmacy.
  • Keeping work insurance still costs its premium and means managing two insurance cards.
  • Premium-payment help has its own rules and is not automatic.
What you get
  • No premium or child copay for covered hospital care, chemotherapy, medicines and clinic visits.
  • Rides to covered appointments and home nursing when your child meets the care rules.
  • Eligible bills from up to three months before the application can be covered through 2026.
What the help includes
  • The treating hospital, clinic and pharmacy must accept the exact Medicaid coverage and meet its service rules.
  • Nursing at home needs a separate assessment, even when ordinary child coverage is approved.
  • Your work plan is billed first. For covered care, the clinic cannot bill you the deductible or copay the work plan left, even when Medicaid pays nothing extra. Care Medicaid does not cover has different rules, including a signed agreement in advance.
  • If a clinic forgets to get approval or bills wrongly, that mistake does not become your bill. Ask billing to check any unexpected charge before paying.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital financial counselor to go through the Indiana benefits application with you.
  2. Have current pay records, birth dates, insurance cards and earlier medical bills ready.
  3. Ask which Hoosier Healthwise plans your oncology team accepts and whether temporary hospital coverage is available.

Indiana Division of Family Resources, 800-403-0864 · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • Ordinary applications have a 45-day decision standard. Disability categories have a 90-day standard.
  • Ask the counselor whether the hospital can grant temporary coverage the same day. It runs until Indiana decides the full application, as long as that application goes in by the end of the next month.
  • For child Medicaid applications made in 2026, the state can consider eligible services in each of the three calendar months before the application month. For applications from January 1, 2027, the child look-back becomes two months. Your child must have met the rules in the earlier month and the service must be covered; this does not mean every old bill will be paid.
  • Once approved, your child keeps coverage for 12 months even if pay goes up, unless they turn 19 or the family leaves Indiana.
Good to know

Work insurance pays first. For covered care with the required approvals, a participating clinic cannot pass its unpaid patient share to you just because Medicaid pays $0 extra.

Other details
  • Keeping both plans may preserve work-plan access, but you still pay its premium unless separate help is approved.
  • The hospital can check the oncology group, pharmacy and planned treatment before any coverage change.
  • The employer can confirm whether removing a child would lower the family premium and when rejoining is possible.
  • If Social Security approves SSI, Indiana Medicaid follows without a second disability review; the benefits office confirms the start date.
  • A notice reducing an existing service can carry an early deadline to keep services during an appeal. The social worker can review the notice, continuation conditions and possible repayment risk with you. See the Medicaid appeals information in the coverage-rights cards.

Federal background: Medicaid and using Medicaid with other insurance.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Hoosier Healthwise reduce our treatment bills, including any insurance leaves behind? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and if applying makes sense, could you help us?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand what free child coverage would pay and how it would work with any insurance we have.

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 fssabenefits.in.gov today and report this month's income and any insurance. Name the months that already carry bills, and pick a plan the oncology group takes.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker or financial counsellor helps you file, asks the hospital to open presumptive eligibility that day, and follows the 45-day decision.

The care team

Nothing for ordinary child coverage. Medical records matter only for the disability route.

Who decides
The Division of Family Resources (the state benefits office) checks income. The Hoosier Healthwise plan you pick then runs the coverage.
Ask your social worker
“Can you help me file the Indiana Medicaid application today and ask for presumptive eligibility while we wait? Can we list bills from the three months before, and check the hospital and the oncology group take the plan?”

How to apply

First step: Apply at fssabenefits.in.gov or call 800-403-0864 this week. Ask the hospital counsellor today for presumptive eligibility, which can be decided immediately, while the state checks the full application.

  1. Apply at fssabenefits.in.gov this week and ask the hospital counsellor for presumptive eligibility today.
  2. List the months that already carry bills so the look-back covers the admission.
  3. Pick a Hoosier Healthwise plan the hospital and the oncology group take.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply online at fssabenefits.in.gov or by phone on 800-403-0864. Ask the hospital financial counsellor for presumptive eligibility the same day.

What to gather

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

How long: The manual gives the state 45 days from the application to the mailed notice, and 90 days for the disability categories. Presumptive eligibility from a qualified provider can be decided immediately.

What a yes looks like

A notice with coverage dates and a choice of Hoosier Healthwise plan. Check the hospital and the oncology group are in that plan before you choose. 12 months of continuous coverage follows.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Read whether the answer was about income, a document or a category. If income is the reason, ask in the same application about Package C, and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • Indiana counts the tax household and this month's income, not last year's return or everyone under the roof.
  • Your child can keep private insurance and have this too. Do not cancel the work plan to apply.
  • A little over the printed line is still worth applying: the state deducts five percentage points of the poverty line when it makes a difference, and publishes no dollar column for it.

Dates that change this

2026-03-01: The income lines are the state table effective March 1, 2026. Indiana publishes no date for the next one.

2027-01-01: Coverage reaches back up to three months before the application month now; two months for applications made on or after January 1, 2027. Indiana has published nothing about how it will apply that.

2026-10-01: From October 1, 2026 Indiana changes the immigration-status rules for every Medicaid programme except emergency services only. Ask the Division of Family Resources how it applies to your child. (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 Hoosier Healthwise Package A with no premium and no child copay. For four people the published lines are $5,720 under age 1 and $4,345 at ages 1 to 18.

  • $5,720/month — Under age 1, family of 4, published base line (208 per cent)
  • $4,345/month — Ages 1 to 18, family of 4, published base line (158 per cent)
  • $3,598/month — Ages 1 to 18, family of 3, published base line (158 per cent)
  • $2,102/month — Ages 1 to 18, single-person household, published base line

Covers: Hospital and clinic care · Chemotherapy and prescriptions · Anything medically necessary for a child under 21, through the child health benefit · Home nursing, aide hours and therapy when approved · Rides to appointments · Dental and vision

Legal protection: Coverage reaches back up to three months before the application month · 12 months of continuous coverage once approved

What it costs the family: No premium. No copay for a child in Package A.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
MAGI budget group; published base lines 208 per cent of the poverty line under age 1 and 158 per cent at ages 1 to 18 (manual 3010.30.30, effective March 1, 2026), with a five-percentage-point disregard applied when it changes the answer (State Plan S10)
Insurance status condition
none: private insurance coverage does not preclude Indiana Health Coverage Programs benefits (Third-Party Liability module); Medicaid pays second
Residency
Indiana
Continuous eligibility
12 months for children under 19, subject to the manual exceptions
Retroactive months
3 now; 2 for applications made on or after January 1, 2027
Processing standard
45 days for ordinary categories, 90 days for the disability categories, from application to the mailed notice

Decisions this site cannot make: Division of Family Resources income decision · Hospital or clinic presumptive eligibility

Expect friction on: Choosing a Hoosier Healthwise health plan the oncology team takes

The trap: Indiana counts the tax household and this month's income. The state deducts five percentage points of the poverty line when it makes a difference, but it publishes no dollar column for that step, so apply even if you are a little over the printed line. Do not cancel private insurance to apply.

Where I read this

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