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

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Michigan program

Free health insurance for your child (Healthy Kids)

Michigan’s Medicaid plan for children under 19. It can work alongside insurance through your job.

What it is

Michigan’s Medicaid plan for children under 19. It can work alongside insurance through your job.

Healthy Kids pays for covered treatment without a premium or child copays. A pay cut can change whether your child qualifies. MDHHS checks your child’s household and current income, even when you have work insurance.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must be under 19, live in Michigan and meet the applicable citizenship or immigration rules. MDHHS decides the household and income that count; a counselor can help check status-specific rules without assuming the whole family has the same eligibility.
  • Current monthly income is the test. Dividing yearly income by 12 gives only an estimate.
  • For four people the line is about $4,400 a month for a child aged 1 to 18, and about $5,363 for a baby under 1.
How it works with work insurance
  • Your work plan is billed first. The hospital can check how Medicaid would cover the remaining charges.
  • There is no child premium to hold Healthy Kids.
Before changing coverage
  • The exact hospital, oncology group and pharmacy must work with the Medicaid plan you choose.
  • Ask the counselor to check an unexpected bill against both plans’ rules.
What you get
  • No premium or child copays for covered hospital care, chemotherapy, prescriptions and clinic visits.
  • Help with rides and, after a separate assessment, nursing at home.
  • Coverage of eligible bills from up to three earlier months through 2026.
What the help covers
  • The clinic and pharmacy need both insurance cards when private insurance is billed before Medicaid.
  • A private insurer’s deductible, copay or coinsurance entry does not by itself establish what you owe. Your social worker can help the clinic check both claims, Medicaid enrollment, approvals and patient-billing rules. That includes any proposed private-pay agreement. An incomplete or denied claim needs review before responsibility is assigned to you.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital’s financial counselor to help with a MI Bridges application or the Michigan Health Care Helpline.
  2. Have recent pay stubs, insurance details and earlier bills ready. Identify the months you want reviewed.
  3. Ask which Medicaid plans your oncology team accepts and whether the hospital offers temporary coverage.

MDHHS; a Medicaid health plan then runs the coverage: 1-855-789-5610 · Official page ↗

If you decide to apply
  • If you are considering an application, the hospital counselor can check whether qualified staff can assess temporary Medicaid. The notice gives its start date and the full-application deadline. Temporary coverage generally ends at the end of the next month unless a full application is made by then; with a timely application, it generally lasts until that decision.
  • Through 2026, coverage can reach three eligible months before the application month. For applications subject to the January 1, 2027 change, children’s coverage reaches two earlier months. MDHHS checks eligibility separately for each month.
  • A notice reducing or stopping an existing service can have an earlier deadline to keep care during review. Your social worker and plan can check the notice date, an urgent appeal and a separate request for continued benefits.
  • The usual application standards are 45 days, or 90 when a disability decision is needed. Your MDHHS worker confirms the applicable standard, outstanding records and any exception. These are different from appeal or continued-care deadlines.
Good to know

Your work plan is billed first. Having it does not prevent Healthy Kids eligibility.

Other details
  • Healthy Kids and MIChild generally provide 12 months of continuous coverage, ending by age 19. Exceptions include moving out of Michigan, requested closure, death or erroneous eligibility. Temporary hospital coverage and Group 2 coverage are not this 12-month guarantee.
  • Two plans mean checking your cancer team, hospital and pharmacy against both networks. Removing work coverage may not reduce a family premium.
  • If ordinary Medicaid does not fit, MIChild uses the same application. Home Care Children has a separate medical review.
  • A child who is lawfully in the country can still get full coverage after October 2026; the counselor checks the child’s own status, not a parent’s.

Federal background: Medicaid and Medicaid as second insurance.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Healthy Kids help with treatment bills alongside our insurance? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and would you help us apply if it makes sense?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand what Medicaid would cover and what managing two insurers would mean.

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 on MI Bridges, report this month’s income and any insurance, name the months with old bills, and choose a plan the oncology group takes.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker or financial counsellor helps you file, asks the hospital about temporary Medicaid that day, and chases the 45-day decision.

The care team

Nothing for ordinary Healthy Kids. Medical records are needed only for the Home Care Children route.

Who decides
MDHHS checks the income; the Medicaid health plan you pick then runs the coverage.
Ask your social worker
“Can you help me file on MI Bridges today, and ask whether the hospital can open temporary Medicaid while we wait? Can we list bills from the three months before, and check the hospital and oncology group are in the plan?”

How to apply

First step: Apply at michigan.gov/mibridges or call 1-855-789-5610 this week, and ask the hospital counsellor today about temporary Medicaid while it is decided.

  1. Apply on MI Bridges this week.
  2. Ask the hospital counsellor today about temporary Medicaid while the application is decided.
  3. List the months that already have bills so the three-month look-back covers the admission.
  4. Pick a Medicaid health plan the hospital and the oncology group are in.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply on MI Bridges, or call the Michigan Health Care Helpline. Ask the hospital’s financial counsellor the same day whether it can open temporary Medicaid as a presumptive-eligibility entity.

What to gather

  • Child’s birth certificate or ID and Social Security number
  • Michigan address
  • This month’s pay for each parent in the tax household
  • Insurance cards, if any
  • Hospital bills from the three months before you apply

How long: MDHHS has 45 days, or 90 when a disability decision is part of it. Temporary Medicaid from the hospital can start the same day. Once approved, coverage reaches back up to three months.

What a yes looks like

A notice with coverage dates and a choice of Medicaid health plan. Check the hospital and the oncology group are in that plan before choosing. Twelve months of continuous coverage follows.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Read whether MDHHS said no on income, on a document, or on the category. If it is income, ask about MIChild and Home Care Children by name, and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • Michigan counts the tax household and this month’s income, not last year’s return.
  • Your child can keep private insurance and have Medicaid too. Do not cancel the work plan to apply.
  • If income is too high, ask in the same application about MIChild and about Home Care Children, which leaves parents’ income out.

Dates that change this

2026-04-01: Michigan applies the yearly poverty guidelines from April 1 to March 31, so these limits hold until April 1, 2027.

2027-01-01: Coverage reaches back up to three months before you apply now; from January 1, 2027 most Medicaid groups go back two months.

2026-10-01: From October 1, 2026 the rules on who counts as lawfully residing change; the state says most lawfully residing children under 21 keep full coverage. Ask MDHHS how it lands for 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 Michigan Medicaid with no premium for a child. The line is 195% of the poverty level under age 1 and 160% from 1 to 18, which is roughly $5,363 and $4,400 a month for four people in 2026.

  • $195 — Under age 1, published percentage of the poverty level
  • $160 — Ages 1 to 18, published percentage of the poverty level
  • $4,400/month — Ages 1 to 18, family of four, our arithmetic on the 2026 poverty line (estimate; not an authenticated Michigan dollar cell)
  • $5,363/month — Under age 1, family of four, our arithmetic on the 2026 poverty line (estimate; not an authenticated Michigan dollar cell)

Covers: Hospital and clinic care · Chemotherapy and prescriptions · Anything medically necessary for a child under 21 · Private-duty nursing and Home Help when approved · Rides to appointments · Dental and vision

Legal protection: Twelve months of continuous coverage once approved, with limited exceptions

What it costs the family: No premium and no copays for a child.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
MAGI household; base 195% FPL under age 1 and 160% ages 1–18. The five-point disregard depends on the highest otherwise eligible category; MIChild is not automatically reachable when other comprehensive insurance blocks initial eligibility. MDHHS confirms the current category, table and rounding.
Insurance status condition
none: BEM 131’s Other Healthy Kids rows allow other comprehensive insurance, and Medicaid pays after the liable third party
Residency
Michigan
Continuous eligibility
12 months, subject to exceptions
Retroactive months
3 now; 2 from 2027-01-01 for most groups
Processing standard
45 days, or 90 days when a disability determination is needed (BAM 115)

Decisions this site cannot make: MDHHS MAGI determination through MI Bridges · Hospital presumptive eligibility (qualified entity)

Expect friction on: Choosing a Medicaid health plan the oncology team is in

The trap: Michigan checks the child’s tax household and current monthly income. A five-percentage-point disregard can matter at the highest category the child is otherwise eligible for; other comprehensive insurance can affect the available category. MDHHS confirms the category and calculation before a coverage change is considered.

Where I read this

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