Katie Beckett Medicaid in Nevada: Eligibility, Coverage, and Premiums

Nevada’s Katie Beckett Medicaid pathway lets a child with a serious disability qualify for Medicaid at home even when the parents’ income would normally disqualify the family. Only the child’s own income and resources count toward eligibility. The tradeoff is that the child must have medical needs severe enough to otherwise require hospital or nursing-facility care, and the family may owe a monthly premium on a sliding scale.

Who Qualifies

Nevada’s eligibility option is administered jointly by the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS), which processes applications, and the Division of Health Care Financing and Policy (DHCFP), which makes the medical determination. A child must meet all of the following:

Be under 19 years old.¹
Meet the Social Security Administration’s definition of disability, and have been denied SSI because of parental income or resources.¹
Require the level of care normally provided in a hospital, nursing facility, or intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities.¹
Have a physician’s confirmation that the needed services can appropriately be provided at home.¹
Receive home-based care at a cost no greater than what Medicaid would pay for institutional care.¹
Live at home with parents in Nevada.²

The defining feature is the parental income disregard. Only the child’s income and resources are counted, which is what opens the door for middle-income families whose children would otherwise be shut out. Because the option is written into Nevada’s Medicaid state plan rather than a capped waiver, every child who meets the criteria must be served. No enrollment ceiling, no waiting list.³

The Medical Level-of-Care Test

DHCFP uses a standardized tool, the FA-19 Level of Care Assessment for Nursing Facilities, to decide whether a child’s needs rise to the institutional level. The assessment looks at activities of daily living (bed mobility, transferring, dressing, eating, hygiene, bathing, bladder and bowel function, and locomotion), supervision needs tied to behaviors like wandering or aggression, and special clinical needs such as central lines, feeding tubes, oxygen, tracheostomy care, or ventilator dependence.⁴

For children under 21 there is a pediatric specialty tier that requires 24-hour access to a registered nurse plus at least one qualifying condition, including mechanical ventilation, total parenteral nutrition, complex wound care, or continuous respiratory monitoring.⁴

How to Apply in Nevada

Applications go through any local DWSS office. The practical steps:

File Form 2920, the application for Medical Assistance to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled. You can submit it online, by phone, by mail, by fax, or in person.⁵
Tell the caseworker you are applying under Katie Beckett. Without that, your child will be evaluated under general Medicaid rules that count your income.¹
Bring income documentation for both parent and child. The prior-year tax return or three months of income records satisfy this.⁵
Provide disability documentation. A prior SSI denial based on parental income can serve. Otherwise, complete Form 2325, an incapacity/disability questionnaire, and DHCFP will make the disability and level-of-care determination using Form NMO-3010.⁶

Standard processing for a disability-based Medicaid application in Nevada takes up to 90 days. If an SSI determination is already pending or finished with the Social Security Administration, DWSS must act within 10 working days of receiving it.⁵ DWSS offices are located in Carson City, Elko, Ely, Fallon, Las Vegas, Pahrump, Reno, Sparks, and Winnemucca.¹

What It Covers

A child who qualifies gets medically necessary services as defined under Nevada’s Medicaid State Plan.¹ There is no separate Katie Beckett benefit package. The pathway opens access to the full range of state plan services, subject to the rule that the total cost of home-based care cannot exceed what institutional care would cost.

If the child already has private health insurance, Katie Beckett Medicaid acts as supplemental coverage for medically necessary services the private plan does not pay for.⁷

Monthly Premiums for Parents

Parental income is ignored for eligibility, but it is not ignored for cost-sharing. Nevada charges families a monthly premium on a sliding scale tied to parental income and resources.¹ The premium is owed every month, whether or not services were used.

A state plan amendment approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in January 2025 formalized premiums for families with income at or above 205% of the federal poverty level. Under that rule, 60 days of nonpayment can terminate the child’s eligibility. Hardship waivers are considered case by case, and total premiums and cost-sharing cannot exceed 5% of family income on a monthly basis.⁸ Once eligibility is determined, parents sign Form NMO-7011, the premium payment agreement, and must return it within 10 calendar days.⁶

Katie Beckett vs. HCBS Waivers

Families often confuse Katie Beckett with Nevada’s home and community-based services (HCBS) waivers. They are different tools.

Katie Beckett is an eligibility route onto Medicaid. It disregards parental income, covers standard state plan services, and has no cap or waiting list.³

HCBS waivers are service programs that add supports beyond the standard plan. Nevada’s waiver for persons with physical disabilities offers attendant care, home-delivered meals, respite, and accessibility adaptations. The waiver for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities covers day habilitation, supported employment, residential habilitation, and behavioral consultation, among others.⁹ Those waivers do count parental income, cap enrollment, and carry waiting lists; Nevada has reported a combined waiting list of roughly 2,000 people across its physical and intellectual disability waivers.³

A child can hold both at once. Katie Beckett establishes Medicaid eligibility; a waiver layers specialized services on top. If a child is denied under Katie Beckett, families are directed to look at the waiver programs as alternatives.¹

Where to Get Help

Family TIES assists directly with Katie Beckett applications at 702-740-4200.¹⁰
Nevada Disability Advocacy and Law Center handles benefits questions. Las Vegas: 702-257-8150 or 888-349-3843. Reno: 775-333-7878.¹¹
Nevada PEP (Parents Encouraging Parents) runs a parent training and information center. Las Vegas: 702-388-8899. Reno: 775-448-9950.¹¹
DHCFP can be reached at hcbs@dhcfp.nv.gov.¹¹

1
Nevada DPBH. Katie Beckett Fact Sheet
2
Nevada Legislature. Katie Beckett Eligibility Group Exhibit
3
KidsWaivers.org. Nevada Programs for Children With Disabilities
4
Nevada Medicaid. FA-19 Level of Care Assessment for Nursing Facilities
5
Nevada DSS. MAABD Application Processing
6
Nevada DWSS. D-300 MAABD Application Processing
7
DC Department of Health Care Finance. Katie Beckett
8
Medicaid.gov. Nevada State Plan Amendment NV-24-0006
9
Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center. Basics of Nevada Medicaid Waivers
10
Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center. Pathway to Down Syndrome Services
11
Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy. Nevada State-Specific Resources