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

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Rhode Island program

Free health insurance for your child (RIte Care)

Rhode Island’s Medicaid coverage for children under 19, with no premium or copays. It can sit behind your work insurance.

What it is

Rhode Island’s Medicaid coverage for children under 19, with no premium or copays. It can sit behind your work insurance.

RIte Care can cover treatment whether your child has no insurance or already has a work plan. Rhode Island uses one income line for all children under 19. The state decides whose income belongs in your child’s household.

Eligibility rules
  • Children under 19 who live in Rhode Island can qualify through Cover All Kids without a citizenship requirement.
  • The state decides who counts in your child’s household and which income counts. The test uses current monthly income and tax-household rules. A yearly amount divided by 12 is only an estimate.
  • The state’s chart revised February 16, 2026 lists monthly child screens including the disregard: two people $4,797; three $6,056; four $7,315; five $8,574; six $9,833. These are screening figures, not an eligibility decision; the financial counselor can confirm the income table in use when the state reviews your child.
Why families with work insurance consider this
  • RIte Care has no child premium or copays and can sit behind your work plan.
  • It also opens the door to rides and a separate assessment for care at home.
What keeping two plans involves
  • The hospital and pharmacy need both insurance details. Each plan has its own rules for covered care.
  • The work-plan premium may continue. Whether dropping a dependent saves money depends on the employer’s pricing.
What you get
  • No premium or copays for your child’s covered hospital care, chemotherapy, clinic visits and medicines.
  • Dental and vision care.
  • Rides to covered appointments, with nursing at home available after a separate care assessment.
  • Twelve months of coverage after approval, even if your pay rises.
What this covers
  • CHIP runs within RIte Care, so there is no separate CHIP application.
  • The children’s Medicaid benefit, EPSDT, supports medically necessary services within federal Medicaid benefit categories for children under 21. It does not guarantee every requested service.
  • For a Medicaid-covered service on a covered date, the billing team should bill your work plan first and Medicaid second. A Medicaid-enrolled provider generally cannot collect the work plan’s deductible, coinsurance or copay from your child for properly authorized covered care, even if Medicaid’s claim calculation adds no payment. Ask billing to check enrollment, both plans’ approvals and any claimed exception before treating an insurance statement as a bill you owe. This protection does not make every noncovered service, outside provider or private-pay arrangement free.
  • Here is an example, not a quote for your child’s care. A covered claim has a $5,000 work-plan allowed amount and a $3,000 deductible, so the work plan pays $2,000. If Medicaid adds $0, the enrolled provider generally still cannot collect that $3,000 from you for properly authorized, Medicaid-covered care. The billing team checks the actual claim and any exception.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital social worker or financial counselor whether this route fits and what keeping two plans would involve. If you choose it, they can help with HealthyRhode.
  2. Have identity documents, your address, current pay, insurance cards and earlier medical bills ready. Explain any recent drop in income.
  3. Ask the counselor which RIte Care plans include your child’s oncology team, hospital and pharmacy.

HealthyRhode / DHS: 1-855-697-4347 · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The approval notice gives coverage dates and health-plan choices. The state makes the eligibility decision.
  • Rhode Island does not cover earlier months for every group, so bills from before you applied may or may not be picked up. Ask the counselor to get your child's coverage start date in writing.
  • The ordinary family-and-child Medicaid rule gives the state 30 days after it receives a completed application; the separate Katie Beckett disability review can take 90 days. A qualified hospital can assess temporary presumptive coverage for eligible Medicaid groups, starting on the determination date. Without a full application, that temporary period ends on the last day of the following month; with a timely full application, federal rules continue it until the application decision. The hospital should confirm your child’s group and written end date; Rhode Island’s hospital rule excludes CHIP-only, aged/blind/disabled and long-term-care determinations.
Good to know

Your child can have RIte Care and work insurance together. The work plan is billed first.

Other details
  • Keeping both plans can preserve work-plan access, but means managing two insurers and continuing any work premium.
  • RIte Care alone depends on the exact plan covering the treatment team and planned care. Removing a child from work coverage may not reduce a family premium.
  • Katie Beckett has a separate disability and care assessment when ordinary income rules do not fit. RIte Share can review a work-plan premium after Medicaid eligibility.
  • If the Medicaid plan ever says no, you have 60 days to appeal. If it wants to stop a service your child already gets, the deadline to keep it running is about 10 days, so bring the letter in the same day. (belongs in a problem card, not "Other details" of the coverage card)

Federal background: Medicaid · CHIP · Medicaid alongside other insurance.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could RIte Care reduce our treatment bills, and what would adding it to any insurance we have involve? If you recommend it, could you help with the application and earlier bills?”

Why I’m asking: I want treatment covered without losing access to our child’s cancer team.

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 HealthyRhode, give this month's income for the tax household, and say what insurance your child already has.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker or hospital financial counsellor helps you file, and chases the decision.

The care team

Nothing for ordinary RIte Care. Medical records are needed only for the Katie Beckett route.

Who decides
The state benefits agency checks income and decides. The health plan you pick then runs the coverage.
Ask your social worker
“Can you help me file the RIte Care application today, and can we ask whether the bills we already have can be covered?”

How to apply

First step: Apply at healthyrhode.ri.gov or call 1-855-697-4347 this week, with the hospital financial counsellor beside you.

  1. Apply at healthyrhode.ri.gov or on 1-855-697-4347 this week.
  2. Ask the hospital financial counsellor to sit with you while you file.
  3. List the months you already have bills for, and ask the worker what coverage dates you are given.
  4. Before you pick a health plan, check that the hospital and the oncology team are in it.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply on the HealthyRhode portal or by phone. Ask the hospital's financial counsellor to help you file the same day.

What to gather

  • Your child's birth certificate or identity document and Social Security number
  • Your Rhode Island address
  • This month's pay for each parent in the tax household
  • Any insurance cards
  • The hospital bills you already have, with their dates

How long: The application says health-care decisions can take 45 to 90 days. No shorter deadline for an ordinary child was published, so ask for a date in writing.

What a yes looks like

A notice with coverage dates and a choice of health plan. Check the hospital and the oncology group are in that plan before you choose. Twelve months of coverage follow.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Read whether the no was about income, a document or a category. If it was income, ask for Katie Beckett by name and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • Rhode Island counts the tax household and this month's income, not last year's return.
  • Your child can keep private insurance and have RIte Care behind it. Do not cancel the work plan.
  • If the worker says income is too high, ask for Katie Beckett by name in the same conversation.

Dates that change this

2026-02-16: The income cells come from the state poverty chart revised on February 16, 2026. The day it took effect and the next annual rollover were not published.

2027-01-01: How far coverage reaches back is unsettled: the state application says there is none for this group, the federal approval protects specified children, and the state has announced two months from 2027. Ask the worker to check your bills by date. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.

What it is worth

Free full coverage for a child under 19. The line is $7,178 a month for four people, $7,315 with the state's 5% allowance.

  • $7,178/month — Child income ceiling, household of 4, base column (261% of poverty)
  • $7,315/month — Child income ceiling, household of 4, published column with the 5% disregard (266%)
  • $5,942/month — Child income ceiling, household of 3, base column (261%)
  • $6,056/month — Child income ceiling, household of 3, published column with the 5% disregard (266%)
  • $4,797/month — Child income ceiling, household of 2, published column with the 5% disregard (266%)
  • $8,574/month — Child income ceiling, household of 5, published column with the 5% disregard (266%)
  • $9,833/month — Child income ceiling, household of 6, published column with the 5% disregard (266%)

Covers: Hospital and clinic care · Chemotherapy and prescriptions · Anything medically necessary for a child under 21, through the children's benefit · Home nursing and personal care when it is approved · Rides to appointments · Dental and vision

What it costs the family: No premium and no copay for a child on RIte Care.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
One line for every age: 261% of poverty base, 266% with the 5% disregard, on the tax household's current income
Insurance status condition
none: a work plan can stay and RIte Care pays behind it
Residency
Rhode Island; a child under 19 is not subject to citizenship requirements (Cover All Kids)
Continuous eligibility
12 months for a child under 19
Retroactive months
Coverage of earlier bills depends on the child’s eligibility group and service dates. The demonstration waives retroactivity for some groups and preserves specified child and other protected groups. The state must confirm the coverage dates, including Cover All Kids and CHIP-funded cases.
Processing standard
Ordinary family-and-child Medicaid: 30 days after a completed application is received. A separate disability-based review can take 90 days.

Decisions this site cannot make: State benefits agency decision on the HealthyRhode application

Expect friction on: Choosing a health plan the oncology team takes

The trap: Rhode Island counts the tax household and this month's income, not last year's return and not everyone under the roof. Do not cancel a work plan to apply: RIte Care sits behind it.

Where I read this

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