BadgerCare Plus for a Grandchild in Wisconsin: Kinship Caregiver Guide

Your Income Does Not Count

The single most important thing grandparents and relative caregivers need to know about BadgerCare Plus: when you care for a grandchild without claiming them as a tax dependent, your income is excluded from the child's eligibility determination.

Under Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) rules, the child's BadgerCare Plus assistance group consists solely of the child and any minor siblings in the home — not you. Your Social Security, pension, wages, and savings are irrelevant. Children qualify for BadgerCare Plus with household income up to 305% of the Federal Poverty Level, and since the "household" for this purpose is just the child, most grandchildren in kinship care qualify easily.

Only income directly attributable to the child is counted — things like a child's trust fund or the child's own earned income.

How to Apply Through the ACCESS Portal

The Wisconsin ACCESS portal (access.wisconsin.gov) is the fastest way to apply. You can also use the MyACCESS mobile app, call your regional Income Maintenance consortium, or mail paper Form F-10182 to the Centralized Document Processing Unit.

When applying online, indicate that you are filing on behalf of the child as a representative. This is critical — if you accidentally include yourself in the assistance group, the system may count your retirement income against the child's eligibility and either delay processing or generate an incorrect denial.

Keep the application focused on the child. List the child and any siblings in the home. Answer income questions about the child, not about yourself.

What BadgerCare Plus Covers

BadgerCare Plus is Wisconsin's Medicaid program. It covers doctor visits, hospital stays, prescriptions, dental care, vision, mental health services, and preventive care. Ask the agency whether premiums or copayments apply to the child's coverage category.

Children under 19 get 12 months of continuous coverage. That means a temporary change in the child's circumstances mid-year will not interrupt their health insurance. At the end of the 12-month period, you'll need to complete a renewal through ACCESS or a paper renewal form. If coverage lapses because you missed the renewal deadline, you have a 90-day reconsideration window — submit the renewal within 90 days and coverage can be restored retroactively.

Special Cases

Children in foster care or Subsidized Guardianship get automatic categorical eligibility for BadgerCare Plus — no income test required. If the child you're raising is under an active Subsidized Guardianship Agreement (Wis. Stat. § 48.623), they're covered automatically.

Children receiving SSI are also automatically eligible for Medicaid in Wisconsin. If the child already receives SSI, you do not need to apply separately for BadgerCare Plus.

Dental care is included in BadgerCare Plus for children. You do not need a separate dental plan.

Apply for Health Coverage First

If you're raising a grandchild and haven't applied for anything yet, BadgerCare Plus is the place to start. The child needs health coverage immediately, the application is relatively straightforward, and your income stays out of the picture. Then move on to the Kinship Care payment application (Form DCF-F-CFS2023-E) and FoodShare.

The Wisconsin Kinship Financial Help Guide lays out the full application sequence — health coverage first, then cash assistance, then food and childcare — with the forms and contacts for each step.

See more Wisconsin guides →