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AHCCCS for People with Disabilities

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    AHCCCS for People with Disabilities

    Is It Right for You?

    Almost everyone should be able to get health coverage. The question is, which plan is right for you and your family?

    This page looks at whether you might qualify for AHCCCS based on your disability. You can see if you might qualify for AHCCCS at Health-e-Arizona or HealthCare.gov.

    If you don’t qualify for AHCCCS based on your disability, you may still qualify under other AHCCCS rules and you should consider other options we will introduce, including Medicare and private health insurance.

    Different ways to qualify for AHCCCS if you have a disability

    If the Social Security Administration (SSA) or AHCCCS says you are disabled, you may have more than one way of qualifying for AHCCCS, depending on your situation.

    This article focuses on whether you will qualify because you have a disability. However, just because you have a disability does not mean you will qualify for AHCCCS under the rules discussed here. You may qualify under rules discussed in another DB101 AHCCCS article or you may not qualify for AHCCCS at all, depending on your situation.

    Try out the estimator below. If it lists you as having income that is 138% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) or less, read our other AHCCCS article.

    Health Coverage Income Limits for Your Family

    AHCCCS Basic Eligibility Requirements

    To qualify for AHCCCS under the rules described in this article, you must:

    Note: If you’re on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or SSI’s 1619(b) provisions, you will automatically qualify for AHCCCS and do not need to apply for AHCCCS separately. You do not need to worry about the qualifying rules discussed on this page. Read more in this article’s How to Sign Up page.

    Disability Determination

    To get AHCCCS due to your disability, you must be determined disabled by the Disability Determination Services Administration (DDSA), which handles disability determination for SSA and AHCCCS.

    They’ll say you have a disability if:

    • You have a physical or mental impairment or combination of impairments
    • Your impairments limit your ability to work, preventing you from earning Substantial Gainful Activity ($1,550 per month or $2,590 per month if you’re blind), and
    • Your condition has lasted or is expected to last for at least 12 months.

    To get a disability determination, you will have to get medical documentation specified by DDSA.

    Note: If you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits due to a disability, you automatically meet this requirement. If you don’t get SSI or SSDI benefits, you’ll have to be determined disabled by DDSA.

    Citizenship or Residency

    You must be a U.S. citizen or meet specific noncitizen requirements to be eligible for AHCCCS.

    If you are legally in the United States, but do not qualify for AHCCCS, you may qualify for subsidized private insurance through HealthCare.gov.

    If you are an undocumented immigrant, you may qualify for AHCCCS coverage for emergencies only. To learn more about this, contact your local DES/Family Assistance Administration office.

    Income

    AHCCCS is for people with low incomes. The rules we’re looking at in this article are for low-income people who also have disabilities. If you are in this situation, you may qualify if your countable monthly income is at or below at least one of two income limits:

    • Test 1 compares your countable income to the Federal Benefit Rate (FBR). FBR is $943 per month for an individual.
    • Test 2 compares your countable income to the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG). 100% of FPG is $1,255 per month for an individual.

    There are two different tests because different people with disabilities are in different situations. You do not need to be below the limit for both tests.

    Note: If your income is higher than both of these income limits, you may still qualify for AHCCCS by different eligibility rules described in DB101’s other AHCCCS article or for AHCCCS Freedom to Work, if you work.

    Countable Income is not the same as your real, full income

    In this article, we talk about how there is a limit for how much countable income you can have and still qualify for AHCCCS. The confusing thing is that countable income is not the same as your total income (sometimes called gross income).

    Making it even more confusing is that the two tests AHCCCS uses for countable income for people with disabilities use different calculations. That means that your countable income will likely be different for the two tests if you have earned income. For example, if you make $1,200 per month at your job and have no unearned income, you would have $557.50 in countable monthly income for Test 1 and $1,115 for Test 2. Because your income would be below the income limit for Test 1, you could qualify for AHCCCS, even though your income would be higher than the limit for Test 2.

    Instead of calculating it out yourself, use the tool we’ve provided below to see what your countable income is.

    Figuring Out Your Countable Income

    To see whether your income would qualify for AHCCCS due to your disability, AHCCCS will look at the number of people in your family, the amount of earned and unearned income your family has, and whether you have Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) or Blind Work Expenses (BWEs).

    If you do not have a spouse and don’t have any children under 18 living with you, use the tool below to check if your income is below the income limits for at least one of the two tests. Fill it out with this information:

    1. Your monthly unearned income, including SSDI payments, Workers’ Compensation payments, cash gifts you get, and income from a trust or investments.
      Do not include payments you get from TANF Cash Assistance, Section 8 housing, or Nutrition Assistance. These payments are all exempt under AHCCCS’s countable income rules.
    2. Your gross monthly earned income (income from work before taxes are deducted), including wages, tips, bonuses, and self-employment earnings.
    3. Any Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) or Blind Work Expenses (BWEs). Talk to a Work Incentive Consultant if you have any questions about this.
    AHCCCS for People With Disabilities: Income Tests

    If you live with other people or want more exact information about your AHCCCS eligibility, try DB101’s Benefits and Work Estimator.

    If you have a disability, meet residency requirements, and have countable monthly income that is below one of the income limits, you may qualify for AHCCCS by disability rules.

    If your countable income is higher than the limits for these tests

    If your countable income is more than the limits for these tests, you may have these options:

    AHCCCS, Private Health Coverage, and Medicare

    If you qualify for AHCCCS, you should sign up for it. Here we will look at what signing up for AHCCCS might mean if you also have or want private coverage or Medicare.

    AHCCCS and Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage

    If you qualify for AHCCCS, it will always be your best choice, even if your employer offers health insurance. That’s because AHCCCS has no monthly premium and the copayments for services are usually much lower than copayments required by employer-sponsored plans. Also, AHCCCS may cover some services that your employer-sponsored coverage does not pay for.

    However, there are a couple of advantages to having both AHCCCS and employer-sponsored coverage at the same time:

    • Private insurance may cover some benefits that AHCCCS doesn’t or the other way around.
    • Private coverage may let you choose from more doctors.

    AHCCCS and Individual Plans

    If you are eligible for AHCCCS, then you will not be eligible to get government help to pay for a private insurance plan. That means the private insurance plan may be expensive for you. If you qualify for AHCCCS, it will always be a better option for you than paying for an individual plan.

    AHCCCS and Medicare

    If you are a senior or the Social Security Administration says you have a disability, you may be able to get AHCCCS and Medicare at the same time.

    There are significant advantages to this. Most importantly, if you have both:

    • AHCCCS will usually pay your Part B premium (and your Part A premium, if you have one) through a Medicare Savings Program. It may also pay your Medicare deductibles, co-insurance, and copayments.
    • You will automatically be enrolled in a Part D benchmark plan and automatically qualify for the Part D Low Income Subsidy. The Low Income Subsidy means you may not have to pay a premium for your Part D or any deductibles. All you would pay for prescription drugs are Part D’s copayments, which range from $1.55 to $11.20.
    • AHCCCS covers many more services than Medicare, so by having both you’ll have better health care coverage than you would by enrolling in just one or the other.

    To learn more, read DB101’s detailed information on Medicare Savings Programs for Parts A and B and the Part D Low Income Subsidy.

    Who pays when you have more than one health coverage

    Depending on your situation, you might get employer-sponsored coverage, AHCCCS, and Medicare all at the same time. This can sound confusing, but it can help you, because one form of coverage may pay for costs that your other coverage won't pay for.

    The rules about how your different types of coverage pay for things are very complicated, so it’s important to check with your health coverage plans when you have questions about which plan will pay for what expenses.

    Generally speaking, AHCCCS will only pay for expenses that it covers and that your other coverage won't pay for.

    Note: If you use a health provider that is not covered by AHCCCS, AHCCCS will not pay any medical expenses. So, if your health care provider doesn’t take AHCCCS and your private insurance or Medicare won’t cover everything, AHCCCS won’t help pay the rest. Make sure to find providers who accept AHCCCS.

    How Medicare works with other insurance shows how it works when you have Medicare and other coverage.

    Learn more

    AHCCCS

    AHCCCS covers people with and without disabilities who have low income.

    AHCCCS Freedom to Work

    AHCCCS Freedom to Work is AHCCCS for people with disabilities who work.

    Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

    SSI helps people with disabilities and seniors who have low income and resources.