Arkansas Medicaid Eligibility Calculator (2026)

What happens to ARHOME

Since January 1, 2014 Arkansas has run its expansion through a Section 1115 waiver that uses Medicaid money to buy private Marketplace plans for newly eligible adults. In July 2026 CMS indicated it would reject the state’s request to extend that waiver; Arkansas asked for a two-year temporary extension, warning that more than 200,000 ARHOME enrollees would need to move by January 1, 2027 while work requirements also begin. The state also has a trigger law ending the expansion if federal funding drops.^[KFF][KFF]

The income test does not change with the delivery system — expansion adults are still judged against 138% of the poverty line — but how coverage is delivered after 2026 had not been announced when we checked.

Children and pregnancy

ARKids First, the separate CHIP, covers children above Medicaid’s 142% up to 211% of the poverty line. Pregnant women qualify to 209%, and the from-conception option reaches the same level.^[MACPAC] The parent/caretaker standard itself is only 12%, which matters little because parents fall under the expansion group.^[MACPAC]

Before you apply

Because ARHOME places expansion adults in private Marketplace plans, an Arkansan approved in that group is enrolled in a qualified health plan paid for with Medicaid funds — the arrangement that ends with the waiver on December 31, 2026.^[KFF] The waiver covers newly eligible adults only; children’s, pregnancy and disability coverage are separate Medicaid groups.

Seniors

Arkansas covers people 65 and older (not people under 65 with disabilities) through a poverty-level group at 80% of the poverty line, and its medically needy spend-down level is about 8%.^[MACPAC] Applications go through Access Arkansas.