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People with Disabilities Say Medicaid’s Limits on Income Stifle Career Advancement
Advocates say the income and asset caps discourage raises and savings, and 47 states now offer Medicaid buy-in programs, KFF reported.
- In November 2023, Erica Carter, a finance manager in Sioux City, Iowa, received notice from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services that her income exceeded Medicaid limits, forcing her to choose between keeping her job or losing coverage.
- Iowa's Medicaid buy-in program restricts eligibility to 250% of the federal poverty level, set at $39,900 for a household of one, creating barriers that force disabled workers to choose between career advancement and necessary health coverage.
- After leaving the program to maintain employment, Carter now spends about $35,000 annually out-of-pocket for expenses Medicaid previously covered, including nursing visits three times weekly, vehicle modifications, and wheelchair repairs.
- An Iowa House committee unanimously advanced a 2025 bill to remove income and asset caps, but the measure failed to pass during the spring legislative session. Meanwhile, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have eliminated such limits over five years.
- Federal Medicaid buy-in programs were created in the 1990s to incentivize employment for people with disabilities, yet advocates argue that current restrictive income caps undermine this original intent by preventing financial independence.
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Total News Sources25
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center22Last UpdatedBias Distribution88% Center
Bias Distribution
- 88% of the sources are Center
88% Center
12%
C 88%
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