Arizona AHCCCS Income Limits: Adults, Kids, Pregnancy, ALTCS

For 2026, Arizona’s Medicaid program (AHCCCS) sets its main income limit at 133% of the Federal Poverty Level: a single adult qualifies with monthly income up to $1,769, and a family of four qualifies at up to $3,658 per month, or about $43,896 per year.¹ Children, pregnant women, and elderly or disabled applicants each fall under different thresholds, some of them considerably higher.

Income Limits for Adults and Parents in 2026

Non-disabled adults under 65 — both parents and childless adults — qualify when household income is at or below 133% of the FPL. In 2026, the FPL for a single person is $15,960 per year, which puts the 133% cutoff at roughly $21,228 annually.¹

Federal law adds a 5% FPL income disregard on top of that, effectively pushing the working ceiling to 138%. If your income lands between 133% and 138%, the disregard keeps you eligible instead of knocking you out over a small margin. These dollar amounts refresh every year when the Department of Health and Human Services publishes new poverty guidelines, usually in January.²

Income Limits for Children

Children have higher ceilings, and the threshold depends on age. For 2026, single-person-household figures are:

Infants under 1: up to 147% FPL, or $1,956 per month
Ages 1 through 5: up to 141% FPL, or $1,876 per month
Ages 6 through 18: up to 133% FPL, or $1,769 per month

Each limit scales up with household size. A family of four with a toddler, for example, qualifies at up to $3,878 per month under the 141% threshold.¹³

Once a child is enrolled, coverage is locked in for 12 months. Federal rules require 12-month continuous eligibility for children under 19, so a mid-year income bump won’t end coverage. The only reasons a child’s coverage can end sooner are turning 19, leaving Arizona, a voluntary cancellation, or an original approval based on fraud or agency error.⁴

KidsCare for Families Above the Medicaid Limit

Children who earn too much for standard AHCCCS may still qualify for KidsCare, Arizona’s CHIP program. KidsCare covers children under 19 in families with incomes up to 225% of the FPL, which for a family of four in 2026 works out to roughly $74,250 per year.⁵⁶ KidsCare normally charges monthly premiums, but AHCCCS has suspended them until further notice as of early 2026.⁷ A child must first be found ineligible for regular AHCCCS before KidsCare kicks in, and the single application screens for both.

Income Limits for Pregnant Women

Pregnant applicants qualify at 156% of the FPL. For a household of one in 2026, that’s $2,075 per month.¹ The household count includes the unborn child, so a pregnant woman living alone is counted as a household of two (more with multiples), raising the ceiling to $2,814 per month.³ Coverage continues through 60 days after the pregnancy ends, no matter how income changes in that window.

Income and Asset Limits for ALTCS (Elderly or Disabled)

The Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) is a separate program for residents who are 65 or older, blind, or have a disability and need nursing-facility-level care. Its rules aren’t tied to MAGI at all.⁸

For 2026, a single ALTCS applicant must have gross monthly income at or below $2,982 and countable resources of no more than $2,000. The resource test is strict, but the home is generally exempt as long as your equity in it stays below $752,000, and it’s fully exempt if a spouse, a child under 21, or a disabled child lives there. Applicants under 65 with resources above $2,000 can sometimes qualify by placing assets in a special type of trust.⁹

How AHCCCS Counts Your Income

For most AHCCCS categories, eligibility is based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI), which mirrors how income is calculated on a federal tax return. MAGI counts wages, salary, self-employment earnings, Social Security benefits, interest, and most other taxable income.¹⁰

Several income types are excluded entirely: Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, certain tax-exempt scholarships and grants, and “Difficulty of Care” payments to family caregivers. That exclusion can matter. Someone receiving SSI alongside part-time wages may qualify even when the combined figure sounds too high.

Self-Employment Income

If you’re self-employed, AHCCCS doesn’t count gross revenue. You can subtract the same business expenses the IRS allows on your return, including the deductible portion of self-employment tax, contributions to a SEP or SIMPLE retirement plan, and the self-employed health insurance deduction. The net figure is what’s compared to the income limit.

Household Size

Which income limit applies depends on household size, and the rules follow tax-filing relationships. If you file taxes, your household includes you, your spouse if filing jointly, and anyone you claim as a dependent. If you’re claimed by someone else, your household generally includes that filer, their spouse, and their other dependents.¹¹

Children have exceptions. If a child is claimed as a tax dependent by someone other than a biological, adoptive, or stepparent (a grandparent, for instance), the household is built using family-relationship rules instead of tax-filing rules. The same applies when a child under 19 lives with both parents but the parents don’t file jointly, or when the child lives with one parent but is claimed by the other. In those cases, the household counts the child, any parents living with the child, and any siblings in the home.

Other Eligibility Requirements Besides Income

Hitting the income limit alone isn’t enough. You also need to meet a few non-financial conditions:

Arizona residency. You must live in Arizona and intend to stay. You can apply before arriving, but approval waits until you’re in the state. A temporary absence for school or a family visit doesn’t end residency if you plan to return.¹²
Citizenship or qualifying immigration status. People who don’t meet immigration requirements may still receive coverage for emergency medical treatment, including emergency labor and delivery, if they meet all other criteria.¹³
A Social Security number, or proof you’ve applied for one.

What Happens When Your Income Goes Up

A raise doesn’t automatically end coverage. Families with children who lose AHCCCS eligibility because a parent’s earnings increased can qualify for Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA), which extends coverage for up to 12 consecutive months in two six-month blocks.¹⁴

The first six months are relatively automatic. Before the second six-month period starts, AHCCCS checks that the household still includes a dependent child, that the parent has continued working (or has a good reason not to be), and that family income doesn’t exceed 185% of the FPL. TMA only applies to families enrolled through the Caretaker Relative category, not to childless adults.¹⁴

Annual Renewals

AHCCCS renews eligibility at least once every 12 months. The state first tries to verify continued eligibility through data it already has — tax records, wage databases, and similar electronic sources. If that data confirms you still qualify, coverage renews automatically.¹⁵

When AHCCCS can’t verify eligibility that way, it mails a pre-filled renewal form. You get at least 30 days to return it with any supporting documents.¹⁵ This is the point where a lot of people lose coverage even though they still qualify on income. During the post-pandemic unwinding, roughly 70% of people dropped from Medicaid nationally lost coverage for paperwork reasons rather than because they earned too much. Watch your mail during your renewal window, and respond quickly to anything from AHCCCS or DES.

1
AHCCCS. AHCCCS Eligibility Requirements
2
Department of Health and Human Services. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines
3
Cornell Law School. Arizona Admin Code R9-22-1427 – Eligibility Under MAGI
4
eCFR. 42 CFR 435.926 – Continuous Eligibility for Children
5
AHCCCS. Fact Sheet – KidsCare Expansion and Parents as Paid Caregivers
6
ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines – 48 Contiguous States
7
AHCCCS. KidsCare – Arizona’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
8
AHCCCS. ALTCS – Health Insurance for Individuals Who Require Nursing Home Level of Care
9
AHCCCS. Filing an Application for the Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS)
10
AHCCCS. 614 How to Calculate Income Eligibility Using MAGI
11
AHCCCS. Budget Groups for Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) Programs
12
AHCCCS. A Overview – Resident of Arizona
13
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicaid Managed Care Payments and Emergency Medical Condition Coverage for Aliens Ineligible for Full Medicaid Benefits
14
AHCCCS. Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA)
15
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Implementation of Eligibility Redeterminations