At 18, your child can manage his or her Medical Assistance (MA) benefits and make medical decisions privately. You won’t have access to your child’s medical records unless he or she authorizes it.

Eligibility rules for MA change between ages 18 and 21. How they change depends on whether your child has income-based MA or disability-based MA. If you are not sure how your child qualified for MA, Chat with a Hub expert.

Income-Based MA

Income-based MA covers children 18 or younger if the total combined income of everybody who lives in the same household is 280% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) or less ($87,360 per year or less for a family of four).

When your child turns 19, the limit goes down to 138% of FPG ($43,056 per year for a family of four). If your child doesn’t qualify for income-based MA as an adult, there are other options:

• If you or your child’s other parent can get employer-sponsored coverage, your child can be on that plan until turning 26.
• If employer-sponsored coverage is not available:
  • Your child can get MinnesotaCare if household income is 200% of FPG or less ($62,400 for a family of four). MinnesotaCare has a small monthly premium ($28 or less).
  • Your child may get help paying for individual coverage on MNsure if household income is over 200% of FPG.

Note: For any of these programs, if your child moves out of your house and you don’t claim your child as a dependent on your taxes, your child might qualify as a single person living alone.

Health Coverage Income Limits for Your Family

Your family size:	123456789101112
Income limits for your family:
	$15,060
	$5,380
	$15,060
	$5,380
	$15,060
	$5,380
Income-based MA, adults (138% FPG)
Income-based MA, children/pregnant women (280% FPG)
MinnesotaCare (200% FPG)
Subsidized private plans, reduced fees (250% FPG)
Subsidized private plans (no income limit)	--
If your family's income is at or below the limit for a program, you may qualify if you meet other program rules. Notes: Some types of income do not count against these limits, including SSI benefits. Different programs sometimes use slightly different numbers for the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG). For private plans with subsidies, your monthly premium amount depends on your income.

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Disability-Based MA and MA-EPD

Your income does not affect whether your child qualifies for disability-based MA. No matter how old your child is, only your child’s income is counted for eligibility.

MA doesn't have an asset limit for children under 21. When your child turns 21, he or she must have less than $3,000 in assets to keep getting disability-based MA coverage. For Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD) (MA-EPD), there is no asset limit, no matter what your age.

Other health coverage options for your child may include employer-sponsored coverage, income-based MA, or MinnesotaCare.

If your child gets Supplemental Security Income (SSI) before turning 18, your child’s benefits might go up or down once he or she becomes an adult.

If your child doesn’t get SSI before age 18, he or she might start to qualify as an adult.

Different Definitions of Disability for Children and Adults

To get SSI, your child’s disability must meet the Social Security Administration’s standards:

• For a child under 18, physical or mental impairments must cause severe limitations in daily life.
• For an adult, physical or mental impairments must limit the ability to work.

While these standards are somewhat different, neither one stops a person from working. Working will make your child’s life better over the long term as an adult, without causing SSI benefits to end automatically.

Exactly how your child’s disability is evaluated as an adult depends on whether your child gets SSI before turning 18.

If Your Child Gets SSI Before Age 18

Children who get SSI benefits before turning 18 have to go through an Age-18 Redetermination before turning 19 to make sure their disabilities meet the adult standards:

• The Age-18 Redetermination is simpler than a standard adult disability determination, because your child cannot be disqualified from having a disability just because he or she earns too much money.
• An SSI rule called Section 301 means that if your child is in a program such as an Individualized Education Program (IEP), Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), or Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS), he or she may keep getting SSI for a while even if your child’s impairment no longer qualifies as a disability.

If Your Child Doesn’t Get SSI Before 18

If your child didn’t get SSI before turning 18, Social Security will review your child’s medical condition to make sure it matches their definition of disability. As part of this disability determination, they will check to make sure your child earns $1,620 per month or less to be determined to have a disability. This amount is called the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level. After your child starts getting SSI benefits, he or she can make more than the SGA level and keep getting benefits, as long as his or her countable income isn’t over the program’s income limit.

More SSI Changes at 18

Children under 18 who get SSI have representative payees, which means that the child’s benefits are usually sent to the parent. When turning 18, your child can ask to have all benefits sent directly to him or her.

At age 18, other SSI rules can affect whether your child qualifies for benefits and how much your child gets:

• Parent-to-child deeming ends. This means SSI stops counting parental income and resources when figuring out your child’s benefits, so benefits could begin or the benefits amount could go up.
• If somebody else pays for your child’s shelter, including parents, your child’s SSI benefits could go down by up to a third.

Some programs help children, while others help adults. When your child becomes an adult, he or she will no longer qualify for some benefits and may qualify for others instead.

Your Child Will Not Qualify You for MFIP

If your family gets benefits from the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), when your child turns 18 (or 19 if still in school), he or she will no longer count as a child for MFIP. This means your family’s MFIP benefits may go down or stop.

Social Security Child’s Benefits Are Only for Children

If your child gets Social Security Child’s Benefits based on your or your spouse’s Social Security work record, these benefits will end when your child turns 18, unless he or she is still in high school or doing another form of secondary education. In that case, they end at 19. If your child stops getting Child’s Benefits, he or she may be able to start getting Disabled Adult Child (DAC) benefits instead.

Disabled Adult Child (DAC) Benefits Might Start

Social Security Disabled Adult Child (DAC) benefits help adults with disabilities who are 18 or older with money each month. If your child gets DAC benefits for two years, he or she will also qualify for Medicare health coverage.

Your child may qualify for DAC if he or she:

• Has a disability that began before turning 22 and meets Social Security’s definition of disability for adults
• Is not married, unless the spouse also gets DAC or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, and
• Has a parent who gets Social Security retirement benefits or SSDI. If your child’s other parent is deceased, your child could also qualify.

Your child can apply for DAC at the local Social Security office.

Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA) Might Start

Adults with disabilities who are 18 or older may qualify for MSA if they have low income and low assets. Like SSI, MSA gives money each month to help pay for basic expenses. A person living alone who also gets SSI will usually qualify for $81 each month in MSA benefits. If your child gets MSA, he or she will automatically qualify for MA as well.

To get MSA, your child must apply online at MNbenefits or at the local county or tribal human services office.