Medicaid Office

Alabama Medicaid Income Limits

Updated August 2026

Alabama's income thresholds vary dramatically by eligibility category. The program was designed before the ACA and has not adopted the expansion, so the limits for most adult categories remain near pre-ACA levels. Children receive significantly higher income thresholds through ALL Kids.

Alabama has some of the most restrictive adult Medicaid income limits in the United States

Parents and caretaker relatives qualify at approximately 18% of the Federal Poverty Level — the lowest parent threshold in the Southeast. Adults without dependent children do not qualify at all. Children and pregnant women have much higher income limits. Verify exact limits with the Alabama Medicaid Agency or your county DHR office, as thresholds are updated annually.

Alabama Medicaid income limits by coverage group

Parents/caretaker relatives

Approximate FPL %
~18% FPL
Notes
Among the lowest in the US

Pregnant women

Approximate FPL %
~146% FPL
Notes
Coverage 60 days postpartum

Children under 1 year

Approximate FPL %
~146% FPL
Notes
Medicaid (no premium)

Children ages 1–18

Approximate FPL %
Up to 146% FPL
Notes
Medicaid (no premium)

ALL Kids (CHIP) — children

Approximate FPL %
146%–312% FPL
Notes
Low premiums on sliding scale

Aged/Blind/Disabled

Approximate FPL %
SSI-linked
Notes
Income and asset limits apply

Nursing facility / HCBS waivers

Approximate FPL %
300% FBR
Notes
$2,982/mo individual (2026)

Adults without children (non-disabled)

Approximate FPL %
Not eligible
Notes
No expansion

Asset limits for aged, blind, and disabled

The Aged, Blind, or Disabled (ABD) category has both income and asset limits. Alabama follows SSI-linked standards, which generally limit individual countable resources to $2,000 for a single person and $3,000 for a couple. Certain assets are excluded: the primary home, one vehicle used for transportation, household goods, life insurance with a face value under $1,500, and burial funds.

For long-term care Medicaid (nursing facility or waiver), the income limit is 300% of the SSI Federal Benefit Rate — approximately $2,982 per month for an individual in 2026. Alabama is an income-cap state with no medically needy spend-down program, so an applicant over this limit must establish a Qualified Income Trust (Miller Trust) to qualify. Spousal impoverishment protections apply, allowing the community spouse to retain a protected share of the couple's income and resources.

Children and pregnant women: where Alabama's limits are more generous

Despite restrictive adult eligibility, Alabama covers children well. Children through age 18 qualify for standard Alabama Medicaid up to approximately 146% FPL with no premium. Above that threshold, ALL Kids (CHIP) extends coverage through 312% FPL with low income-scaled premiums. Together, these programs cover virtually all uninsured children regardless of immigration status for citizens and qualified noncitizens.

Pregnant women qualify at approximately 146% FPL, and coverage continues for 60 days after delivery. Newborns born to a Medicaid-enrolled mother are automatically enrolled in Alabama Medicaid for the first year of life.

Medicare Savings Programs (QMB) in Alabama

Medicare Savings Programs — Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB), Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB), and Qualifying Individual (QI) — help Medicare enrollees in Alabama cover the premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance that Medicare alone leaves them to pay. QMB is the broadest of the three: it pays the Part B premium ($202.90/month in 2026), the Part A premium if one is owed, and every Medicare deductible, coinsurance amount, and copayment. Federal law prohibits any provider from billing a QMB enrollee for that cost-sharing, regardless of what the provider's billing system shows.

QMB

Situation
Individual
Monthly income limit
$1,350/mo

QMB

Situation
Married couple
Monthly income limit
$1,824/mo

SLMB

Situation
Individual
Monthly income limit
$1,616/mo

SLMB

Situation
Married couple
Monthly income limit
$2,184/mo

QI

Situation
Individual
Monthly income limit
$1,816/mo

QI

Situation
Married couple
Monthly income limit
$2,455/mo

Alabama has eliminated the resource (asset) test for Medicare Savings Program eligibility entirely, so an applicant's savings, retirement accounts, home equity, or vehicle value play no role in the decision — only income counts. That's a real advantage over the roughly two dozen states that still cap MSP resources at $9,950 for an individual or $14,910 for a married couple.

SLMB and QI pay the Part B premium only, with no help toward deductibles or coinsurance, but they're easier to qualify for on income. QI in particular runs on a capped yearly federal allocation awarded first-come, first-served, so approved enrollees must reapply each year and applying early improves the odds of being funded. All three programs also trigger automatic enrollment in Extra Help, the Medicare Part D subsidy that limits what enrollees pay per prescription to no more than $12.65 in 2026.

Because these are Medicaid programs even though they cover Medicare costs, Alabamians apply through the Alabama Medicaid Agency at medicaid.alabama.gov — not through Medicare or the Social Security Administration.

Alabama Medicaid Agency

Visit the official Alabama Medicaid website

Income Limits in Nearby States

Arkansas Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia

Related guides

Income Limits

Current income cutoffs by state and household size, tied to the Federal Poverty Level.

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Spend-Down

How to qualify by deducting medical bills from income that's above the limit.

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QMB Program

What the QMB program covers, what a QMB card proves, and how to apply.

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