Federal, exists in every state
MassHealth without counting parents’ money (Kaileigh Mulligan)
Kaileigh Mulligan is the Massachusetts route for a child under 18 with hospital-level care needs at home.
What it is
Kaileigh Mulligan is the Massachusetts route for a child under 18 with hospital-level care needs at home.
This is Massachusetts’s counterpart to the route often called Katie Beckett. It ignores parents’ income and assets. Your child must meet the hospital or nursing-facility level-of-care test, so a cancer diagnosis alone does not settle eligibility.
Eligibility rules
- The child must be under 18 and meet hospital or nursing-facility level-of-care rules.
- Parents’ income and assets are disregarded. The child’s countable assets must be no more than $2,000.
- The child’s countable income limit is $72.80 a month; a deductible can apply above it.
- All required findings within the hospital-level branch or the separate skilled-nursing-facility branch must be met. Home care must be appropriate and cost no more than institutional care. MassHealth assesses the combinations of clinical findings; one qualifying task alone is not enough.
What you get
- MassHealth coverage when the child’s care needs and own finances meet the rules.
What this is not
- A diagnosis alone does not establish the required care level.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the hospital enrollment specialist and discharge team whether a Kaileigh Mulligan assessment fits your child.
- Gather the nursing plan, medical records, and records of income and assets in your child’s name.
MassHealth, 800-841-2900 · Official page ↗
After you apply
- MassHealth has 90 days for an application based on disability.
Good to know
CommonHealth is another disability route and does not require this hospital-level care test.
Other details
- A benefit comparison is not a recommendation to move states.
“Could our child’s care needs fit Kaileigh Mulligan, and would you help us compare it with CommonHealth before we apply?”
Why I’m asking: I want to understand when MassHealth can disregard our income and what assessment our child needs.
More background and detailed requirements
How this works
This is Massachusetts’s counterpart to the route often called Katie Beckett. It ignores parents’ income and assets. Your child must meet the hospital or nursing-facility level-of-care test, so a cancer diagnosis alone does not settle eligibility.
- MassHealth coverage when the child’s care needs and own finances meet the rules.
- Ask the hospital enrollment specialist and discharge team whether a Kaileigh Mulligan assessment fits your child.
- Gather the nursing plan, medical records, and records of income and assets in your child’s name.
The child must be under 18 and meet hospital or nursing-facility level-of-care rules.
Parents’ income and assets are disregarded. The child’s countable assets must be no more than $2,000.
The child’s countable income limit is $72.80 a month; a deductible can apply above it.
All required findings within the hospital-level branch or the separate skilled-nursing-facility branch must be met. Home care must be appropriate and cost no more than institutional care. MassHealth assesses the combinations of clinical findings; one qualifying task alone is not enough.
A diagnosis alone does not establish the required care level.
MassHealth has 90 days for an application based on disability.
A benefit comparison is not a recommendation to move states.
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