Maryland program
State help with treatment costs for a child with cancer
Maryland help with certain treatment costs for children with special health needs. The Children's Medical Services rules include childhood cancers.
What it is
Maryland help with certain treatment costs for children with special health needs. The Children's Medical Services rules include childhood cancers.
This is a separate conversation from ordinary health coverage. It can cover approved services and sometimes a child's insurance premium. Having private insurance is not an automatic bar.
Eligibility rules
- Your child must be under 22. Leukemia and other childhood cancers are named conditions.
- Income up to 200% of poverty, about $4,553 a month for three people, or 250% (about $5,691) when the program counts your medical expenses.
What you get
- Help with approved treatment and life-sustaining medicines.
- Possible help with the child's share of an insurance premium under the program's rules.
What the help covers
- Covered services can include inpatient care at Medical Assistance affiliated hospitals and life-sustaining medications.
- Copays, deductibles and coinsurance can be covered when the program buys the insurance. It can also cover eligible services outside Medical Assistance.
- Children's Medical Services does not automatically reimburse every private-insurance bill. Its rules allow approved services and certain copays or deductibles through participating clinicians under insurance the program purchases. The program confirms current family charges, covered bills and whether funded premium help is available to new applicants.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the hospital social worker or local health department for a Children's Medical Services application.
- Have income records, the diagnosis, treatment plan and any insurance cards ready.
- Ask which services and costs the program would approve before relying on the help.
Maryland Department of Health, Office of Children and Youth with Specific Health Care Needs · 410-767-6730 · Official page ↗
After you apply
- The decision standard is 30 calendar days after a complete application. Financial eligibility lasts 12 months.
- Ask the office (410-767-6730) whether the financial-help side is taking new families this year; the care-coordination side is always open.
Good to know
The medical plan must name the services covered. A program listing does not promise payment of every bill.
Other details
- The Office of Children and Youth with Specific Health Care Needs can be reached at 410-767-6730.
Official sources
“Could Children's Medical Services help with costs our insurance leaves? What would it cover and leave us paying, and could you help check funding and apply if it fits?”
Why I’m asking: I want to know whether this separate program can help with our child's treatment expenses.
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
Get the application from the hospital or the local health department and ask plainly whether the programme is funded now.
Your social worker
The hospital's social services or business office holds applications under the programme's own rules.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The Children's Medical Services Program, within 30 calendar days of a complete application.
- Ask your social worker
- “Can we apply to the state children's programme for my child? The rules name childhood cancers. Can it pick up copays or part of the premium, and is it funding new families at the moment?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the hospital's social work or business office for the application, or call 410-767-6730.
- Ask the hospital's social work or business office for the application; the rules say hospitals hold them.
- Call 410-767-6730 and ask whether the programme is taking applications and funding services right now.
- Ask specifically whether it can pick up copays or the child's part of a premium.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask the local health department, or the hospital's admitting, social services or business office, for the application. Or call 410-767-6730.
What to gather
- Proof of household income
- The diagnosis and the treatment plan
- Insurance cards, if any
How long: 30 calendar days from a complete application. Financial eligibility then lasts 12 months.
What a yes looks like
An approved medical plan naming the services the programme will pay for, and a 12-month eligibility period.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask whether the reason was income, the condition list or funding, because each has a different next step.
Watch out
- Having private insurance is not an automatic bar.
- The rules exist but whether money is available right now was not established. Ask before counting on it.
- Maryland publishes no dollar table for this, so the income line here is worked from the poverty guidelines.
Dates that change this
2026-09-10: No 2026 income table, cost-share schedule or statement of current funding was published. The rules exist; whether money is available for new families right now was not established. Ask on 410-767-6730 before counting on it.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Approved treatment services for a child under 22 with income at or under twice the poverty level, decided in 30 calendar days and lasting 12 months.
- $200/year — Ordinary income ceiling
- $250/year — Conditional income ceiling where the rules' medical deduction applies
- $30 — Calendar days to decide after a complete application
- $12 — Months financial eligibility lasts
Covers: Inpatient hospital care at Medical Assistance affiliated hospitals · Life-sustaining medications · The child's share of an insurance premium, under the rules' conditions · Copays, deductibles and coinsurance when the programme is buying the insurance · Services not covered under Medical Assistance, where the programme covers them
Legal protection: The rules name leukemia and other childhood cancers among the conditions covered
What it costs the family: A cost-share schedule was NOT FOUND.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Age
- under 22
- Income
- 200% FPL, or 250% FPL where the applicant qualifies for the medical deduction in the rules
- Diagnosis
- Leukemia and other childhood cancers are named in the covered conditions
- Processing standard
- 30 calendar days from a complete application
- Period
- 12 months of financial eligibility
The trap: Private insurance is not an automatic bar. The rules allow the programme to buy the child's share of a premium under set conditions, and to fill gaps for services Medical Assistance does not cover. They do not promise it pays every balance or every privately insured child's copays.
Where I read this
- MDH — Office of Children and Youth with Specific Health Care Needs — Maryland Department of Health, read September 10, 2026
- COMAR 10.11.03 — Children's Medical Services Program — Maryland Division of State Documents, read September 10, 2026