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

Childhood Cancer Lantern
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Vermont program

Coverage that ignores your income (Katie Beckett)

Medicaid for a child under 19 who needs a higher level of care at home. Your income is left out.

What it is

Medicaid for a child under 19 who needs a higher level of care at home. Your income is left out.

Disabled Children’s Home Care, also called Katie Beckett, looks at your child’s disability, care needs and own finances. Parents’ income and savings are left out. You can discuss this route alongside ordinary child Medicaid; a cancer diagnosis alone does not establish the required care needs.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must live in Vermont and be under 19.
  • Only your child's own money counts: under $2,982 a month of income and no more than $2,000 in savings in the child's name.
  • The state must find that your child meets its disability rules and needs a hospital, skilled-nursing or intermediate-care level of care. It also checks whether care at home is appropriate and meets its cost comparison. The clinical team can ask which current assessment tool and criteria apply; a diagnosis or a need for occasional help alone does not establish eligibility.
What you get
  • Full Vermont Medicaid for a child who meets the care and financial tests.
  • A coverage decision that leaves out parents' income.
What the help includes
  • Nursing and other home services have their own assessments even after Medicaid coverage opens.
  • DCHC opens Medicaid; it is not a separate premium buy-in. Children are exempt from Medicaid copays. Keeping work insurance still means dealing with its premium, and the billing team must check any noncovered or privately arranged care separately.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the social worker whether a DCHC review fits your child’s care needs before deciding whether to complete the packet.
  2. Ask the doctor and nurse to describe the care your child needs each day. Bring information about your child's own income and savings.

Children with Special Health Needs: 800-660-4427. Vermont Health Connect: 855-899-9600. · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The packet is the Medicaid application, a child disability report and a medical-information permission form. The worker can give you the current versions.
  • Disability Medicaid has a 90-day decision standard, with limited exceptions. The packet identifies the Medicaid application, child disability report and medical-information permission form; the worker can confirm current versions and help request earlier coverage. For applications during 2026, up to three earlier eligible months may be covered. Ordinary child coverage can be discussed while this review is pending.
Good to know

A cancer diagnosis alone does not establish the level of care this program requires.

Other details
  • The care team's description should explain what your child cannot do alone and how often help is needed.

Federal background: Coverage that leaves parents’ income out (Katie Beckett).

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the care our child needs qualify us for Katie Beckett? What would it change for our insurance, and could you help with the packet if it is worth applying?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know whether there is a Medicaid route that leaves our income out.

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 the disability application, name the programme, and leave your own income and savings off the child's financial pages as the guide instructs.

Your social worker

The children with special health needs team on 800-660-4427 helps families complete the packet; the hospital social worker gathers the clinical letter.

The care team

The doctor and nurse describe what your child cannot do alone, day by day. That description, not the diagnosis, decides the level of care.

Who decides
The state's disability Medicaid unit decides the finances; a clinician's description of daily care decides the level of care.
Ask your social worker
“Our income is over the Dr. Dynasaur line. Can we apply for Disabled Children's Home Care, and can the team write what daily care looks like at home?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the oncology team for a letter on daily care, then file at info.my.vermont.gov. Call 800-660-4427 if you want the packet checked first.

  1. Ask the oncology team this week for a letter describing the daily care your child needs at home.
  2. File the disability application at info.my.vermont.gov and say Disabled Children's Home Care by name.
  3. Call 800-660-4427 and ask the children with special health needs team to check the packet before it goes in.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply online at info.my.vermont.gov using the Medicaid for the Aged, Blind or Disabled application, forms 205ALLMED Non-LTC, 211C-CHILD and 212D. Call 855-899-9600, or the children with special health needs team on 800-660-4427 for help with the packet.

What to gather

  • The clinical letter describing daily care at home
  • Your child's own income and savings, if any
  • Your child's identification and Social Security number
  • Forms 205ALLMED Non-LTC, 211C-CHILD and 212D

How long: Vermont has not published a decision deadline or a measured wait for this route. Ask for both in writing when you file.

What a yes looks like

A Vermont Medicaid card for your child, with your income never having been counted.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A no on the level of care usually means the letter did not describe daily care in enough detail. Ask what was missing, appeal by the date on the notice, and call the Health Care Advocate free on 1-800-917-7787.

Watch out

  • The 2026 child-income standard is $2,982 a month; the child-resource limit is $2,000. Parents' finances are excluded, but the worker checks ownership and excluded resources.
  • The application guide still linked from the current page was written in 2023 and gives an old phone number. Use 855-899-9600.
  • What decides this is the written description of daily care, not the word leukemia.

Dates that change this

2023-10-01: The application guide the health department still links was written in October 2023 and gives an older phone number, 1-800-250-8427. The 2024 factsheet sends families to 855-899-9600 instead. Use the newer number.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Full Vermont Medicaid for a child who needs a higher level of care at home, decided without counting what the parents earn.

  • $19 — Age ceiling

Covers: Everything Dr. Dynasaur covers · Home nursing and personal care once coverage is open · Coverage behind a work plan

Legal protection: Family income is not counted · Parents' resources are disregarded for the child's financial eligibility; the general application still asks for household information.

What it costs the family: Unknown. No premium or cost share was published either way.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
Parents' income and resources are disregarded. In 2026, the child's countable-income standard is $2,982 a month and the child's countable-resource limit is $2,000; ownership, availability and exclusions matter.
Level of care
A higher level of care, as worded on the state factsheet. The instrument was not published.
Residency
Vermont
Statutory basis
The state-plan section was not opened; the programme is documented on the health department's own pages

Expect friction on: The level of care instrument, any premium and the real waiting time were all unpublished

The trap: The child's income and savings have separate tests: $2,982 monthly countable income in 2026 and $2,000 countable resources. The worker checks ownership and exclusions before any money is moved.

Where I read this

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