Arizona AHCCCS Income Limits: Adults, Children, Pregnancy, and ALTCS

To qualify for AHCCCS, Arizona’s Medicaid program, a single adult in 2026 needs monthly income at or below $1,769, and a family of four needs income at or below $3,658 per month. Those figures come from 133% of the Federal Poverty Level, the baseline the Arizona AHCCCS income limits use for most adults. Children, pregnant women, and people needing long-term care each have their own thresholds, some well above the adult limit.¹

Income Limits for Adults and Parents

Non-disabled adults under 65 qualify when household income sits at or below 133% of the Federal Poverty Level. This covers both parents and childless adults. The 2026 FPL for a single person is $15,960 a year, which puts the 133% cutoff at roughly $21,228 annually, or $1,769 per month. A family of four hits the limit at $3,658 per month, about $43,896 a year.¹

Federal rules add a 5% FPL income disregard on top of that, effectively lifting the working ceiling to 138% of the FPL. If your income falls between 133% and 138%, the disregard keeps you eligible instead of knocking you off over a small amount. The dollar figures reset each year when the Department of Health and Human Services publishes new poverty guidelines, usually in January.²

Income Limits for Children

Children get higher ceilings than adults, and the limit depends on the child’s age. For 2026, the thresholds for a single-person household size are:

Infants under 1: up to 147% FPL, or $1,956 per month
Children ages 1 through 5: up to 141% FPL, or $1,876 per month
Children 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 qualifies at up to $3,878 per month under the 141% threshold.¹³

Once a child is enrolled, federal rules now require 12 months of continuous eligibility. Coverage cannot be dropped mid-year if family income rises above the limit, with narrow exceptions such as the child turning 19 or the family moving out of state.⁴

Income Limits for Pregnant Women

Pregnant women qualify at 156% of the FPL. For a household of one in 2026, that comes out to $2,075 per month.¹ Household size for a pregnant applicant counts the unborn child (or children, for multiples), which raises the dollar ceiling. A pregnant woman living alone counts as a household of two, so her limit rises to $2,814 per month.³ Coverage continues through 60 days after the pregnancy ends regardless of income changes during that window.

KidsCare for Children Above the Medicaid Limit

A child who earns too much for standard AHCCCS may still qualify for KidsCare, Arizona’s Children’s Health Insurance Program. KidsCare covers children under 19 in families earning up to 225% of the FPL. For a family of four in 2026, that works out to roughly $74,250 per year based on the updated FPL of $33,000.⁵⁶

KidsCare normally charges monthly premiums, but as of early 2026 AHCCCS has suspended those premiums until further notice.⁷ A child must first be found ineligible for regular AHCCCS Medicaid before KidsCare takes over, and the application process screens for both at once.

How AHCCCS Counts Income

Most AHCCCS programs use Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI), the same income measure used on a federal tax return. MAGI counts wages, salary, self-employment earnings, Social Security benefits, interest, and most other taxable income.⁸

Some income types are left out entirely. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments don’t count, and neither do certain tax-exempt scholarships and grants or Difficulty of Care payments made to family caregivers. Those exclusions can tip eligibility: someone receiving SSI alongside part-time wages may qualify even if the combined dollars sound high.

Self-Employment Income

If you work for yourself, AHCCCS looks at net income, not gross revenue. You can subtract the same business expenses the IRS lets you deduct, including the deductible portion of self-employment tax, contributions to a SEP or SIMPLE retirement plan, and the self-employed health insurance deduction. The figure after those deductions is what counts against the limit.

Household Size

The income limit depends on household size, and household size follows tax-filing relationships. If you file taxes, your household includes you, your spouse (if filing jointly), and anyone you claim as a dependent. If someone else claims you, your household generally includes that filer, their spouse, and all their other dependents.⁹

Children have special rules. If a child is claimed as a tax dependent by someone other than a biological, adoptive, or stepparent (a grandparent, for example), the household is built using family-relationship rules instead. 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 in the home, and any siblings in the home.

Separate Limits for Elderly or Disabled Residents (ALTCS)

If you’re 65 or older, blind, or have a disability and need nursing-facility-level care, the limits above don’t apply to you. The Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) uses its own rules.¹⁰

For 2026, a single ALTCS applicant must have gross monthly income at or below $2,982 and countable resources at or below $2,000. The resource limit is strict, but not everything counts. Your 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 whose resources exceed $2,000 may still qualify by placing assets in a special type of trust.¹¹

Other Requirements Beyond Income

Meeting the income limit doesn’t by itself make you eligible. You also need to meet three non-financial conditions:

Arizona residency. You must live in Arizona and intend to stay. You can apply before arriving, but approval can’t come through until you’re actually in the state. Temporary absences for school or family visits don’t end residency as long as you plan to return.¹²
U.S. citizenship or a qualifying immigration status. People who don’t meet the immigration requirement may still receive coverage for emergency medical treatment, including emergency labor and delivery, if they meet the other criteria.¹³
A Social Security number, or proof you’ve applied for one.

What Happens If Your Income Goes Up

Families with children who lose AHCCCS because a parent’s earnings rose don’t necessarily lose coverage immediately. Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) can extend coverage for up to 12 consecutive months, divided into two six-month periods.¹⁴

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

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. 614 How to Calculate Income Eligibility Using MAGI
9
AHCCCS. Budget Groups for Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) Programs
10
AHCCCS. ALTCS – Health Insurance for Individuals Who Require Nursing Home Level of Care
11
AHCCCS. Filing an Application for the Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS)
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)