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

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Mississippi program

Medicaid without counting parents’ income (Katie Beckett)

Medicaid for a disabled child at home, using the child’s own income and savings.

What it is

Medicaid for a disabled child at home, using the child’s own income and savings.

This route can matter when parents earn too much for ordinary child Medicaid. A diagnosis alone does not settle it. Mississippi reviews the child’s disability, daily care needs and whether care at home is appropriate.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must live in Mississippi, be under 19, and meet Social Security’s childhood disability rules.
  • Only your child's own income counts, and it must be under $2,982 a month. Savings in the child's name must be under $2,000; ask the social worker how a fundraiser account would be treated before it is opened.
  • The child must need hospital, nursing-facility or intellectual-disability-facility care. Home care must be safe, appropriate and cost no more than institutional care.
What you get
  • Full Medicaid coverage, including alongside a private plan.
  • Parents’ income and savings are left out of the financial test.
What this includes
  • This is Medicaid eligibility, not an automatic award of home nursing hours. Specific services still need their own medical review.
  • There is no premium and no copay.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the regional Medicaid office for the current Katie Beckett packet, formerly called Disabled Child Living at Home.
  2. Bring records of the child’s own income and accounts. Ask the oncologist to describe the daily care needed.
  3. Ask the social worker to help complete the medical forms with the application.

The Mississippi Division of Medicaid, using Social Security's disability rules and a level-of-care decision: 800-421-2408 · Official page ↗

What happens next
  • The application can go through ACCESS Mississippi or the aged, blind and disabled form DOM-300. The regional office supplies the medical assessment forms.
  • The decision standard is 90 days when disability must be decided, otherwise 45 days.
Good to know

Money legally available to your child can affect eligibility. The social worker can help ask Medicaid how gifts, fundraiser proceeds and protected accounts would be treated.

Other details
  • There is no waiting period; the application asks for the last 12 months of medical records.
  • Katie Beckett is a state-plan eligibility route, not a place on a waiver waiting list. Other Mississippi waivers have separate age, disability and care-level tests; leukemia alone does not establish those tests, and another qualifying condition should be discussed with the team. The regional Medicaid office can identify the current application packet.
  • Ownership, availability and exclusions decide how a gift or fundraiser account is treated. Do not assume every donation counts or that giving money away solves a resource problem.

Federal background: Medicaid without counting parents’ income (Katie Beckett).

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Katie Beckett help our child, what are its benefits and drawbacks, and could you help us apply if the care needs fit?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand whether our child can get Medicaid based on care needs even if our income is too high.

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 Katie Beckett packet by name, fill in the family section, and get the medical forms back from the doctor.

Your social worker

The hospital social worker knows this packet and can send it in with the medical records attached.

The care team

The oncologist describes, in writing, the care your child needs day to day and why it needs a hospital or nursing-facility level of skill.

Who decides
The Mississippi Division of Medicaid, using Social Security's disability rules and a level-of-care decision.
Ask your social worker
“We earn too much for children's Medicaid. Can we start a Katie Beckett application now, and can the oncologist complete the medical forms before discharge?”

How to apply

First step: Call 800-421-2408 or ask the hospital social worker for the Katie Beckett packet this week, and ask the oncologist for the daily-care description.

  1. Call 800-421-2408 or ask the hospital social worker for the Katie Beckett packet in the first fortnight.
  2. Ask the regional office which medical and assessment forms it wants; the paper application linked online was revised in 2015.
  3. Ask the oncologist to write down the daily care your child needs while your child is still an inpatient.
  4. The social worker can help ask Medicaid how gifts, fundraiser proceeds and protected accounts are treated.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply at access.ms.gov, or use the aged, blind and disabled application (form DOM-300). The regional Medicaid office supplies the medical and assessment forms. Call 800-421-2408 and ask for Katie Beckett by name.

What to gather

  • The diagnosis date and the oncologist's letter
  • The medical and assessment forms the regional office sends
  • Your child's Social Security number and any account in your child's name
  • Nothing about the parents' income: it is not counted

How long: The manual gives 90 days when the disability itself has to be decided, and 45 days when it does not. No measured Mississippi wait was published.

What a yes looks like

A Medicaid card for your child that stands whatever the parents earn. Ask at once about nursing hours at home and rides.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask which test the no was on: disability, level of care, or the cost comparison with institutional care. Appeal by the date on the notice and ask the oncologist for a written description of daily care.

Watch out

  • Money legally available to your child can affect eligibility. The social worker can help ask Medicaid how gifts, fundraiser proceeds and protected accounts would be treated.
  • Ask the regional office which forms are current. The application linked on the website was last revised in 2015.
  • The 12 months mentioned on the state's page is about medical records, not a waiting period. Do not let anyone tell you to wait a year.

Dates that change this

2026-01-01: The child-only income ceiling is the institutional maximum, $2,982 a month from January 1, 2026. The next update is due January 1, 2027 and the figure is not published.

2026-09-11: Mississippi Medicaid’s general rule charges no premiums or beneficiary cost sharing (Title 23 Part 200 Rule 3.7, effective August 1, 2026).

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Full Mississippi Medicaid for a disabled child at home without counting parents’ finances. The child income screen is $2,982 monthly in 2026; Medicaid must confirm the current Katie Beckett resource limit.

  • $2,982/month — Child's own monthly income ceiling (the institutional maximum)
  • $90 — Decision standard when disability has to be decided first

Covers: Everything Mississippi Medicaid covers for a child · Private-duty nursing and personal care at home when approved · Rides to appointments, with overnight meals and lodging

Legal protection: Parents' income is not counted · Parents' savings are not counted · No deductibles, coinsurance or copays under Medicaid

What it costs the family: Mississippi Medicaid’s general rule charges no premiums or beneficiary cost sharing (Title 23 Part 200 Rule 3.7, effective August 1, 2026).

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
The child’s own income screen is $2,982 monthly from January 1, 2026. Parents’ income and resources are not counted. Medicaid must confirm the current Katie Beckett resource limit before the child’s savings are treated as an eligibility barrier.
Disability
Social Security's rules for disability in a child
Level of care
Needs the level of care of a hospital, a nursing facility or an intellectual-disability facility
Home care test
Care at home must be safe and appropriate and cost no more than institutional care
Processing standard
90 days when disability has to be decided, otherwise 45 days
Residency
Mississippi

Decisions this site cannot make: Social Security's disability test · A hospital or nursing-facility level-of-care decision · A cost comparison against institutional care

Expect friction on: The state supplies the medical and assessment forms; the linked paper application dates from 2015 · No published decision time beyond the 90-day standard

The trap: Money legally available to your child can affect eligibility. The social worker can help ask Medicaid how gifts, fundraiser proceeds and protected accounts would be treated.

Where I read this

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