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

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South Carolina program

Health insurance for your child (Healthy Connections)

South Carolina's Medicaid and CHIP coverage for children under 19 is called Partners for Healthy Children.

What it is

South Carolina's Medicaid and CHIP coverage for children under 19 is called Partners for Healthy Children.

Healthy Connections covers treatment and everyday care for children under 19 whose household income is under the line for its size, judged on this month's income. Ordinary Medicaid can sit behind a work plan; only the CHIP band near the top of the range needs the child to be uninsured.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must be under 19 and live in South Carolina.
  • The line by household size, per month: 1: $2,766 · 2: $3,751 · 3: $4,735 · 4: $5,720 · 5: $6,705 · 6: $7,689.
  • These published ceilings are 208% of the poverty line. A yearly income divided by 12 is only an estimate of current monthly income.
  • Ordinary children's Medicaid can sit behind a private plan. The CHIP band near the top of the income range is only for children with no other insurance, so the counselor checks which category your child falls into before you change anything.
  • A child who is a citizen or lawfully in the country can qualify. The counselor checks your child's own status, not a parent's.
What you get
  • Hospital stays, chemotherapy, medicines, clinic visits, dental and vision care.
  • Rides to covered appointments and nursing at home when your child qualifies.
  • Earlier eligible bills can be covered.
What the help includes
  • Before changing insurance, the financial counselor can confirm whether your child’s specific Medicaid or CHIP category has any premium, enrollment fee or copay. Keeping a private plan also means keeping any private premium unless separate premium assistance is approved.
  • Your work plan is billed first. For covered care, the clinic cannot bill you the deductible or copay the work plan left, even when Medicaid pays nothing extra. If a bill arrives anyway, ask the financial counselor to check it before paying.
  • The children’s Medicaid benefit can cover medically necessary services within Medicaid benefit categories. Home nursing needs its own assessment.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital’s financial counselor to help with Form 3400, online at apply.scdhhs.gov or by phone.
  2. Have current pay records, insurance details and earlier medical bills ready. Name earlier months on Form 3400-C.
  3. Ask which Healthy Connections plans your child’s hospital, cancer team and pharmacy accept.

South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (Healthy Connections) · 888-549-0820 · Official page ↗

If you decide to go ahead
  • A decision usually takes up to 45 days, or up to 90 days when it rests on a disability review. A qualified hospital can open temporary coverage on the day it approves it; that coverage lasts until the full decision if you file the full application by the end of the following month.
  • Through 2026, coverage can reach back three eligible months before the application month. Applications from January 1, 2027 have a two-month look-back for children.
  • Once approved, your child keeps coverage for 12 months, unless they turn 19 or you move out of state. The renewal notice gives the date.
Good to know

Work insurance pays first when your child has both plans. The insurance question can still matter for CHIP near the top of the income range.

Other details
  • Keeping both plans means keeping the private premium and managing two insurance cards.
  • Changing to Medicaid alone depends on the exact plan covering your child’s hospital, doctors, medicines and planned care.
  • HIPP can review premium payments after Medicaid approval, but only for eligible children outside a Medicaid health plan.

Federal background: Medicaid · CHIP · Medicaid with insurance you already have.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Healthy Connections help with our child’s bills, and what would keeping both insurance plans mean? If it fits, could you help us with the application and earlier bills?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the coverage, any costs, and how it would work with insurance we already have.

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 at apply.scdhhs.gov, report this month's income and any insurance, and name the months that already have bills.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker or hospital financial counsellor helps you file, asks whether the hospital can open temporary coverage that day, and follows the decision.

The care team

Nothing for the ordinary children's category. Medical records are only needed for the Katie Beckett category.

Who decides
The Department of Health and Human Services decides the application. The Medicaid health plan you pick then runs the coverage.
Ask your social worker
“Can you help me file for Healthy Connections today, ask whether this hospital can open temporary coverage while we wait, and add the three months of bills before this month?”

How to apply

First step: Apply at apply.scdhhs.gov or call 888-549-0820 this week, and ask the hospital's counsellor today about temporary coverage.

  1. Apply at apply.scdhhs.gov this week, and ask the hospital counsellor today about temporary coverage while it is decided.
  2. List the months with bills so the three-month look-back covers the admission; that is Form 3400-C.
  3. Pick a Medicaid health plan that the hospital and the oncology group both take.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply online at apply.scdhhs.gov, or on Form 3400 by post, or by phone on 888-549-0820. Ask the hospital's financial counsellor the same day whether that hospital can open temporary coverage on the spot.

What to gather

  • Child's birth certificate or ID and Social Security number
  • South Carolina address
  • This month's income for each parent in the tax household
  • Insurance cards, if any
  • The hospital bills from the three months before you apply

How long: The department's own FAQ says it generally takes up to 45 days. Temporary coverage from an authorised hospital can start the same day.

What a yes looks like

A notice with coverage dates and a choice of Medicaid health plan. Check that 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 the office said no on income, on a document or on a category. If it is income, ask for the Katie Beckett category by name and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • Your child can keep private insurance and have this too. Do not cancel the work plan to apply.
  • Ask for the three months before the application month by name, on Form 3400-C. From January 1, 2027 the look-back is two months.
  • If the office says the income is too high, ask about the Katie Beckett category by name: it counts only the child's own income and savings.

Dates that change this

2026-03-01: The income cells are the state's table effective March 1, 2026. A standing annual update date and the next table were not published in the sources checked.

2027-01-01: Coverage reaches back up to three months before the application month now, and two months for applications made on or after January 1, 2027. No South Carolina implementing notice was found.

2026-10-01: A federal immigration change starts on October 1, 2026. The state's own final-action notice says lawfully present children are not affected by it. Ask the office how it applies to your child.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Full Healthy Connections coverage for a child under 19 at or under $5,720 a month for four, $4,735.46 for three, effective March 1, 2026.

  • $3,750.93/month — Household of 2, published monthly ceiling (208%)
  • $4,735.46/month — Household of 3, published monthly ceiling (208%)
  • $5,720/month — Household of 4, published monthly ceiling (208%)
  • $6,704.53/month — Household of 5, published monthly ceiling (208%)
  • $7,689.06/month — Household of 6, published monthly ceiling (208%)
  • $2,766.4/month — Household of 1, published monthly ceiling (208%)

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

Legal protection: Coverage for children continues for 12 months even if the family's situation changes · Other insurance can stay in place; providers bill it first and Healthy Connections pays second

What it costs the family: No premium was published for the children's category, and none is printed here as a yes or a no: the premium and enrolment-fee schedule was NOT FOUND in the documents checked.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
MAGI budget group at or below 208% of the poverty line, published monthly cells effective March 1, 2026; the posted 2014 template also carries a five-point disregard whose dollar column the state does not publish
Insurance status condition
none for the Medicaid side: other insurance can coexist and Healthy Connections pays second. The posted (2014) optional children's group requires an uninsured child, so the uninsured question can still matter at the top of the band.
Residency
South Carolina
Continuous eligibility
12 months for children
Retroactive months
3 now; 2 for applications made on or after January 1, 2027
Processing standard
the FAQ says generally up to 45 days; a binding category standard was NOT FOUND

Decisions this site cannot make: Healthy Connections eligibility determination on modified adjusted gross income · Hospital presumptive eligibility at an authorised hospital

Expect friction on: Choosing a Medicaid health plan the oncology group takes

The trap: Do not cancel a work plan to apply. The handbook says providers bill the other insurance first and Healthy Connections pays second. The other trap is silence about old bills: ask for the three months before the application month by name, on Form 3400-C.

Where I read this

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