How do Michigan Medicaid income limits vary by program (expansion, aged, blind, disabled) in 2026?

1. Expansion pathway — Healthy Michigan Plan: income tested by FPL, not assets

Adults eligible under Michigan’s Medicaid expansion (Healthy Michigan Plan) qualify if their household income is at or below about 133% of the federal poverty level; because Medicaid applies a 5% FPL disregard in income counting, that threshold is commonly described as effectively 138% of FPL for eligibility purposes ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Aged (long‑term care) — cash‑flow limits and strict asset rules

Medicaid for seniors needing nursing‑home level care is assessed very differently: eligibility depends on both income and assets, with a 2026 single‑applicant monthly income test cited around $2,982 and an individual asset limit roughly $9,950, plus a required nursing‑home level of care; exceedances can sometimes be managed through spend‑down or planning tools but those rules are program‑specific ^{[3] [4]}.

3. Blind and disabled — SSI pathways, asset tests and different counting rules

People who are blind or disabled often qualify through SSI‑related or other non‑MAGI Medicaid pathways that impose both income and resource limits rather than the expansion’s MAGI test; Michigan’s guidance notes that SSI may not be counted as income in some eligibility calculations and that disabled/senior applicants face distinct asset rules and potentially multiple sub‑categories with different limits ^{[5] [6]}.

4. Medically needy and “spend‑down” options — a programmatic safety valve

Michigan maintains medically needy or “spend‑down” pathways that let applicants with income or resources above standard thresholds qualify once medical expenses meet a deductible or they otherwise spend down to the asset limit; the spend‑down/deductible approach applies to several programs including nursing home and other non‑expansion categories, and the effective spend‑down amount can be facility‑ or case‑specific ^{[3] [6]}.

5. How the percentages and dollar limits interact — household size, counting rules and caveats

All MAGI‑based limits are income‑to‑FPL comparisons that vary by household size and rely on income counting rules (including the 5% disregard that makes 133% look like 138% in practice), while non‑MAGI programs layer in asset tests, allowances (personal needs allowances in nursing homes), and case‑by‑case retroactive or deductible rules — meaning a single headline percentage or dollar figure rarely tells the whole eligibility story ^{[2] [7] [3]}.

6. Limitations, policy changes and what the sources show (and don’t)

Official Michigan materials and legal‑help summaries make clear the program distinctions and provide sample dollar limits for long‑term care, but public sources compiled here do not publish a single, exhaustive 2026 table mapping every subcategory (household sizes and precise FPL dollar cutoffs for 2026 are not fully enumerated in the supplied excerpts), so precise monthly eligibility numbers for every blind/disabled subcategory or family size require consulting MDHHS forms or an eligibility calculator ^{[5] [7] [8]}.

Conclusion — practical takeaway

In 2026 Michigan’s Medicaid looks like two regimes: expansion (Healthy Michigan) uses MAGI and FPL percentages (≈133% with the 5% disregard), while aged, blind and disabled pathways impose both income and asset rules with specific dollar limits and spend‑down options — navigating which requires close attention to household size, income‑counting conventions, and program‑specific asset tests ^{[1] [2] [3] [5]}.