Minnesota Medical Assistance for a Grandchild: Eligibility When a Relative Is the Caregiver

Your Income Doesn't Count for the Child's Coverage

The question grandparents ask most often about health coverage is whether their own pension or wages will disqualify the grandchild. In Minnesota, the answer is almost always no.

Medical Assistance (Minnesota's Medicaid) uses Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) rules. When a relative caregiver doesn't claim the child as a tax dependent, the child falls under "tax non-filer" rules. Under those rules, only the child's own income — trusts, survivor pensions, earnings — counts toward eligibility. Your income is excluded entirely.

The income limit is 283% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for children under age 2 and 275% for children ages 2–18. Since most grandchildren in kinship care have little or no income of their own, virtually every one of them qualifies for Medical Assistance.

What Medical Assistance Covers

MA for children in Minnesota is comprehensive and costs the family nothing:

• Zero copays on doctor visits, specialist referrals, and emergency care
• Zero premiums — no monthly cost to maintain coverage
• Zero deductibles on prescriptions, lab work, or hospital stays
• Dental coverage including preventive care, fillings, and orthodontic evaluation
• Behavioral health including counseling, therapy, and psychiatric services
• Prescription drugs with no out-of-pocket cost

Children under 21 on MA have no cost-sharing obligations for covered services.

12-Month Continuous Eligibility

Once enrolled, a child receives 12 months of uninterrupted coverage regardless of minor income changes during the year. If you get a raise or start a part-time job, it doesn't trigger an immediate eligibility review for the child. This stability matters — it means you won't lose the child's health insurance mid-year because of a household change.

Retroactive Coverage

If the grandchild had medical expenses in the months before you applied, MA can cover unpaid bills going back up to three calendar months before your application month. The child must have met eligibility criteria during those prior months — which, under the income exclusion rules, they almost certainly did.

This means if a child arrived in your care two months ago and you've been paying out of pocket for prescriptions or a doctor visit, those costs may be reimbursable once coverage is approved.

How to Apply

Apply through MNsure (mnsure.org) for health coverage. You can also submit a paper healthcare application at your county human services office.

You don't need a court order or a Delegation of Parental Authority to apply. A relative caregiver who has physical care and control of a child can sign the application. Bring the child's birth certificate, Social Security number, and proof that the child lives with you.

In most Minnesota counties, MA recipients choose or are assigned to a managed care plan — Hennepin Health, Blue Plus, UCare, or HealthPartners, depending on the county. Once enrolled, the child has a primary care provider and access to the full network.

MinnesotaCare as a Backup

In the rare case where a child's own income exceeds the MA limit, MinnesotaCare offers state-subsidized coverage with low monthly premiums based on family size. For kinship families, this is uncommon — the income exclusion rules make MA qualification the norm — but it's worth knowing the safety net exists.

Our Minnesota Kinship Financial Help Guide explains how to coordinate Medical Assistance with other benefits you're applying for, and includes the timeline for when to expect approval and how managed care enrollment works.

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