Health care
Alabama Medicaid
About this resource
Medicaid is health insurance that covers basic medical care and most emergency situations. Medicaid is a federal program but is run by individual states; each state makes decisions on who is eligible for medical benefits, usually based on income.
However, for foster youth, there is a specific option not based on income: by federal law, states have to provide Medicaid coverage for youth who aged out of foster care in their state, until the age of 26.
Alabama offers the opportunity to complete the Medicaid application online: https://medicaid.alabama.gov/content/Apply
PLEASE NOTE:
Medical coverage is confusing! And it is not perfect. But as a foster youth, you have the right to get your physical, psychological, and emotional health taken care of.
The Alabama Medicaid website does not mention foster youth medial coverage specifically -- but if you spend time looking through the many pages and FAQs, you'll see that foster youth and DHS youth in out-of-home placements do qualify
The website does not mention youth coverage until 26 -- make sure you write you were in foster care somewhere on your application!
Make sure you are signed up before your 18th birthday and/or you age out of foster care -- it will be much harder to sign up after that
Talk with your caseworker or Transition Planning Team to help you sign up with Medicaid before you leave care!
Alabama currently does not offer Medicaid coverage to Relocators. (Relocators are foster youth who have "relocated," or moved from the state in which they were in foster care).
Eligibility
- Must have experienced foster care in the state of Alabama
- Must have aged out of care in the state of Alabama
- Cannot have reached your 26th birthday
- Must sign up before 19th birthday
Address
AL
United States