Medicaid eligibility calculator

Check your Medicaid eligibility

Enter your household size (yourself, plus anyone you claim as a tax dependent), your annual household income, and your state. The two optional questions refine the note under your result; they do not change the core comparison, which always runs against the standard adult Medicaid limit.

This is an estimate, not a determination. Only your state Medicaid agency or a healthcare.gov application can make the actual eligibility call, based on your full application, household composition, and, for some categories, immigration status. Apply at your state Medicaid agency or healthcare.gov either way; applying costs nothing and there is no penalty for applying and getting denied.

How does this calculator work?

It runs the same comparison a Medicaid eligibility worker starts with: your household's income measured as a percentage of the federal poverty level (FPL) for your household size, using the current-year HHS poverty guidelines. That percentage, plus whether your state expanded Medicaid under the ACA, points to one of three likely outcomes: Medicaid, a marketplace subsidy, or, in non-expansion states only, the coverage gap. It does not check assets, immigration status, or your state's exact document requirements, all of which a real application does.

What counts as household size and income?

Household size generally follows your expected tax household: yourself, your spouse if you file jointly, and anyone you claim as a dependent, the same definition the ACA marketplace uses for its own subsidy math. Income is modified adjusted gross income (MAGI): roughly your adjusted gross income plus any tax-exempt interest, excluded foreign income, and non-taxable Social Security benefits, not your gross paycheck before deductions.

What are the 2026 Medicaid income limits by household size?

The table below is the same 2026 federal poverty guideline data the calculator runs on: 100% of FPL and the 138% expansion-adult Medicaid threshold, by household size, for the 48 contiguous states and DC.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ASPE, 2026 Poverty Guidelines. 138% and monthly figures are calculated from the published 100% FPL amounts (annual figure x 1.38, rounded to the nearest dollar; monthly is the annual 138% figure divided by 12, rounded). Alaska and Hawaii use separate, higher HHS guidelines; see Medicaid eligibility 2026 for those figures.

Worked example: a household of three at $30,000 a year

Take the calculator's own default: a household of 3 earning $30,000 a year in California, an expansion state. The household-of-3 row above puts 100% of FPL at $27,320. Divide: $30,000 / $27,320 = 110% of FPL. Because California expanded Medicaid, and 110% is under the 138% cutoff, this household likely qualifies for Medicaid on income alone. If the same household earned $45,000 instead, that would work out to 165% of FPL, over 138%, pointing to a marketplace subsidy instead. See how ACA marketplace subsidies work for what that premium tax credit is worth at that income.

Why does my state matter so much?

Because the ACA let states opt in or out of Medicaid expansion, the same income can produce a different answer depending on where you live. As of 2026, 40 states plus DC expanded Medicaid to all adults under 138% of FPL. The 10 states that did not, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, generally have no Medicaid category at all for a childless, non-disabled adult, and set much lower limits for parents. That is why the calculator asks for your state before giving an estimate, and why the same $30,000 income can mean "likely eligible" in an expansion state and "possible coverage gap" in one of the 10 non-expansion states. For the full picture on expansion status and the coverage gap, see Medicaid eligibility 2026: who qualifies and how to apply.

What if the calculator says "possible coverage gap"?

It means your income is under 100% of FPL in a state that has not expanded Medicaid, the range where neither program is guaranteed to reach you: marketplace subsidies only start at 100% of FPL, and many non-expansion states cap adult Medicaid well below that line, or exclude childless adults from adult Medicaid entirely. This is an estimate, not a wall. Parents, pregnant people, and children qualify under separate, often lower but still real, income limits in every state, so apply through your state Medicaid agency regardless of what this tool shows; a caseworker, not a self-check, makes the actual call.

What if I am 65+, blind, or disabled?

This calculator does not apply well to you. Medicaid for people 65 or older, blind, or disabled runs through a separate pathway that also counts assets and uses state-specific limits, not the income-only, percent-of-FPL comparison built into this tool. Answer "yes" to the age/disability question above and the estimate will say so directly; from there, your state Medicaid agency's aged/blind/disabled unit is the right place to apply.

The flat truth

This tool gives you one number, your income as a percent of the federal poverty level, and points you toward the most likely outcome given your state's expansion status. It cannot see your assets, your exact tax household, or your state's specific rules for pregnancy, children, or disability categories, all of which can move the real answer. Use it to decide whether applying is worth 15 minutes of your time; if your income is anywhere near a threshold on this page, the answer is almost always yes, since there is no cost and no penalty for applying and being told no.