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

Childhood Cancer Lantern
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Medicaid without counting parents’ income (Katie Beckett)

Mississippi offers Medicaid for a disabled child at home without counting parents’ income.

What it is

Mississippi offers Medicaid for a disabled child at home without counting parents’ income.

Mississippi calls this Katie Beckett, formerly Disabled Child Living at Home. The child must meet disability, care-level and home-care cost tests. A cancer diagnosis alone does not settle those tests.

Eligibility rules
  • Under 19; Social Security disability rules and hospital, nursing-facility or intellectual-disability-facility level of care.
  • Parents’ income and resources are not counted for Katie Beckett. The child’s own countable finances matter. The 2026 institutional income standard is $2,982 a month. Medicaid must confirm the current Katie Beckett resource limit before the child’s savings are treated as a barrier.
  • Home care must be safe, appropriate and cost no more than institutional care.
What you get
  • Full Medicaid when the child meets the financial and care tests.
What it covers
  • This state-plan option has no waiver slot or waiting list.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the regional Medicaid office for the Katie Beckett packet or form DOM-300.
  2. Have the oncology team describe the daily care and complete the medical forms.

Mississippi Division of Medicaid, 800-421-2408 · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The decision standard is 90 days if disability must be decided; otherwise 45 days.
Good to know

A fundraiser held in the child’s name can affect the child’s savings test.

Other details
  • The 12 months on the state page concerns medical records, not a waiting period.
  • Mississippi Medicaid’s general rule effective August 1, 2026 charges no premiums or beneficiary cost sharing. The 2026 institutional income standard is $2,982 a month for the child. Parents’ finances are not counted under Katie Beckett. Your social worker can ask Medicaid for the current program-specific resource rule before treating savings as a reason the child cannot qualify.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could our child meet Katie Beckett’s daily-care test? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and could you help us decide whether to request the assessment?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know whether coverage without counting our income could fit our child’s actual care needs.

More background and detailed requirements

How this works

Mississippi calls this Katie Beckett, formerly Disabled Child Living at Home. The child must meet disability, care-level and home-care cost tests. A cancer diagnosis alone does not settle those tests.

  • Full Medicaid when the child meets the financial and care tests.
  1. Ask the regional Medicaid office for the Katie Beckett packet or form DOM-300.
  2. Have the oncology team describe the daily care and complete the medical forms.

Eligibility rules

  • Under 19; Social Security disability rules and hospital, nursing-facility or intellectual-disability-facility level of care.
  • Parents’ income and resources are not counted for Katie Beckett. The child’s own countable finances matter. The 2026 institutional income standard is $2,982 a month. Medicaid must confirm the current Katie Beckett resource limit before the child’s savings are treated as a barrier.
  • Home care must be safe, appropriate and cost no more than institutional care.

What it covers

  • This state-plan option has no waiver slot or waiting list.

After you ask

  • The decision standard is 90 days if disability must be decided; otherwise 45 days.

Other details

  • The 12 months on the state page concerns medical records, not a waiting period.
  • Mississippi Medicaid’s general rule effective August 1, 2026 charges no premiums or beneficiary cost sharing. The 2026 institutional income standard is $2,982 a month for the child. Parents’ finances are not counted under Katie Beckett. Your social worker can ask Medicaid for the current program-specific resource rule before treating savings as a reason the child cannot qualify.

Under 19; Social Security disability rules and hospital, nursing-facility or intellectual-disability-facility level of care.

Parents’ income and resources are not counted for Katie Beckett. The child’s own countable finances matter. The 2026 institutional income standard is $2,982 a month. Medicaid must confirm the current Katie Beckett resource limit before the child’s savings are treated as a barrier.

Home care must be safe, appropriate and cost no more than institutional care.

This state-plan option has no waiver slot or waiting list.

The decision standard is 90 days if disability must be decided; otherwise 45 days.

The 12 months on the state page concerns medical records, not a waiting period.

Mississippi Medicaid’s general rule effective August 1, 2026 charges no premiums or beneficiary cost sharing. The 2026 institutional income standard is $2,982 a month for the child. Parents’ finances are not counted under Katie Beckett. Your social worker can ask Medicaid for the current program-specific resource rule before treating savings as a reason the child cannot qualify.

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.

  1. Get the state packet this week.
  2. Have the clinician describe every daily task and what happens without it.
  3. 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

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