How We Verify Medicaid Information on MedicaidOffice.net

Our Sources

Every piece of content on MedicaidOffice.net is grounded in primary government sources. We do not derive Medicaid rules from secondary articles, blog posts, or unofficial summaries. The sources we draw from are:

• CMS — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — The federal agency that administers Medicaid at the national level. CMS publishes federal Medicaid rules, policy guidance, waiver approvals, and state plan amendments. Primary reference: medicaid.gov.
• HHS — U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — HHS publishes the Federal Poverty Level guidelines annually, which determine income thresholds for most Medicaid eligibility categories. Primary reference: aspe.hhs.gov.
• State Medicaid Agency Websites — Each state administers its own Medicaid program under a state-specific name (e.g., Medi-Cal in California, TennCare in Tennessee). State agencies publish eligibility criteria, income limits, covered services, and application procedures. We consult each state's official agency site for state-specific pages.
• USCIS — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — For immigration-related Medicaid eligibility — including qualified non-citizen categories, the five-year bar, and humanitarian exceptions — we reference USCIS guidance at uscis.gov.
• Federal Register & Code of Federal Regulations — For underlying statutory and regulatory requirements governing the Medicaid program, we reference the CFR (42 CFR Part 430 et seq.) and relevant Federal Register notices.

How We Handle Income Figures

Medicaid income limits are expressed as percentages of the Federal Poverty Level. Because FPL dollar amounts change annually when HHS publishes updated guidelines (typically in January or February), income figures can become stale quickly if hardcoded across multiple pages. Our approach is to maintain a single income limits reference page that is reviewed and updated annually following each new FPL publication, and to link to that page from eligibility content rather than repeating dollar figures throughout the site. This reduces the risk of outdated figures appearing on secondary pages.

State-specific income thresholds — for example, a state's Medicaid expansion cutoff or CHIP income limit — are sourced from each state's Medicaid agency website and reviewed when we update the corresponding state page.

How We Handle State-Specific Information

Each state runs its own Medicaid program with its own eligibility rules, benefit packages, application processes, and program names. We do not generalize one state's rules as if they were universal. State pages on this site are researched and written individually using that state's official Medicaid agency website as the primary source. Where states differ significantly from federal minimums — for example, asset test policies, expansion status, postpartum coverage duration, or income disregards — we note those differences explicitly rather than describing a generic rule.

If a state's policy is unclear from its public-facing website, we note the uncertainty and link directly to the state agency rather than stating a rule we cannot verify. This is especially common for waiver programs and HCBS eligibility, where state rules change frequently and documentation can lag policy.

How We Keep Content Current

We follow a structured review cadence rather than updating pages only when users report errors:

• Annual income limit review — Following each HHS FPL publication (typically January–February), we update the income limits page and verify state-specific thresholds on high-traffic state pages.
• State page review — State agency contact information, application portal URLs, online application availability, and expansion status are reviewed periodically. States with significant policy changes (new waivers, expansion votes, coverage changes) are prioritized.
• Editorial flagging — Content that cannot be fully verified against a primary source at time of writing is flagged internally for follow-up before publication. We do not publish content that relies solely on secondary sources.
• Reader corrections — We review all submissions through the Contact page. Corrections from readers with direct knowledge of a state's program are among our most valuable signals for identifying content that needs updating.

Each page on the site shows an "Information verified" date near the top of the page, so you can see when content was last reviewed.

Use of AI Tools

We use AI tools to help draft and structure content. AI is part of how we work — it is not a replacement for verification. Every page is reviewed against primary government sources before publication. AI tools help us research efficiently, organize complex regulatory material, and write clearly. They do not determine what facts appear on the site, and they do not replace cross-checking against official CMS, HHS, or state agency sources.

If you find content on this site that appears AI-generated and is also factually inaccurate, that represents a verification failure on our part — not an inherent limitation of the tool. Use the Contact page to flag it. We take those reports seriously and correct verified errors promptly.

What to Do If You Find an Error

If you find content that is outdated, inaccurate, or missing important nuance — particularly if you have firsthand knowledge of a state's Medicaid program or have encountered a different rule in practice — please use our Contact page to let us know. Include the page URL, the specific claim you believe is incorrect, and the source you're referencing if possible. We review all feedback and prioritize corrections on high-traffic pages.

Official Government Resources