How to Apply for Indiana Medicaid 2026: Step-by-Step

To apply for Indiana Medicaid for long-term care, you must set up a Miller Trust first if your income tops $2,982 per month; skipping that step gets the application denied. The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) processes eligibility through its Division of Family Resources (DFR), and you can apply in person, online through the FSSA Benefits Portal, by mail, or by calling 1-800-403-0864.1 This guide walks through each channel, the documents you'll need, and what to expect after you submit.

In This Guide

• Before You Apply: The Miller Trust Rule
• How to Apply for Indiana Medicaid: Four Ways
• What Happens After You Apply for Indiana Medicaid
• Documents to Gather Before You Apply
• The Look-Back Period
• Can Someone Else Apply for You?
• If Your Application Is Denied
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Before You Apply: The Miller Trust Rule

Indiana does not offer a medically needy spend-down for long-term-care applicants. That means if your gross monthly income is above $2,982, there is no pathway to eligibility unless you set up a Qualified Income Trust, called a Miller Trust.1 Indiana sets that 2026 cap at $2,982 per month, which equals 300 percent of the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit rate of $994.4

A Miller Trust is the formal qualified income trust Indiana requires when income runs over the cap. The word that matters is valid: without a valid trust, income above $2,982 leaves you ineligible for long-term-care Medicaid, so it's worth having an elder law attorney draft it.1 Applying over the cap without one gets the application denied.

How to know if you need one: Add up all your gross monthly income: Social Security benefits, pension payments, annuity income, any other recurring income before deductions. If that total is more than $2,982, contact an elder law attorney before you do anything else.1

If your income is under $2,982, you can skip ahead to the application itself.1

How to Apply for Indiana Medicaid: Four Ways

Indiana takes health-coverage applications in person, online, by mail, or by phone, and all four feed the same DFR eligibility system, so pick the one that fits your situation.1 That fourth route matters: if a computer and a phone call are both out of reach, a mailed paper application still gets you in the door.

Whichever channel you choose, the application lands with DFR, which decides financial eligibility. If you want waiver services at home, there is a second step as well: a nursing-facility level-of-care assessment, covered in the next section.

What Happens After You Apply for Indiana Medicaid

Understanding the post-submission steps helps you avoid delays and respond quickly when DFR needs something from you.

Documents to Gather Before You Apply

Having your paperwork in order before you apply prevents the most common cause of delays. Gather the following:

Identity and citizenship:

• Social Security card or Social Security Administration letter confirming your number
• U.S. passport or Certificate of Naturalization, or a U.S. birth certificate plus an identity document10
• Indiana driver's license, state ID, or another government-issued photo ID
• If you're enrolled in any part of Medicare, federal rules exempt you from having to document your citizenship10

Income:

• Social Security award letter or SSA-1099 for the current year
• Pension statements or letters from your pension administrator
• Any annuity or retirement account distribution statements
• Recent pay stubs if you or your spouse is still working

Assets:

• Recent statements for all checking and savings accounts
• For long-term-care applicants, prepare up to 60 months of bank statements. DFR looks back five years at asset transfers, and having records on hand shortens the review.2
• Statements for CDs, stocks, bonds, and investment accounts
• Life insurance policies showing face value and cash surrender value
• Vehicle registration or title
• Property deeds and recent property tax bills
• Burial plot deeds and prepaid funeral contracts, if any

Medical and insurance:

• Medicare enrollment card and any supplemental insurance cards
• Recent medical bills if relevant to documenting care needs
• Proof of health insurance premiums, which may qualify as income deductions

Miller Trust (if applicable):

• The fully executed trust document, signed and in effect before you submit the application
• Statements for the trust's own bank account, which must be kept separate from your other accounts and funded each month with your income above $2,98211

The Look-Back Period

Indiana applies a 60-month look-back to any assets you transferred for less than fair market value in the five years before your application date.2 If DFR finds such a transfer, it calculates a penalty period: the total uncompensated value you gave away, divided by the state's average monthly private-pay cost of nursing-facility care. During those months Medicaid won't pay for nursing-facility care or home and community-based waiver services, even if you're otherwise eligible, but the penalty does not take away the rest of your Medicaid coverage.2

Transfers you made before the five-year window are not counted. Transfers to your spouse (or to someone else for your spouse's sole benefit), to a blind or disabled child, or to a trust solely for a disabled person under 65 are exempt, and so are some transfers of the home itself, such as to a child under 21 or to a son or daughter who lived there and gave care for at least two years.2 In Indiana that caregiver-child exemption is not automatic: the state's policy manual requires documentation of the individual's condition and the extent of care the child provided in the case record, and a home transferred to someone not on the exempt list remains subject to a transfer of property penalty.12

Paying a family member to care for you out of your own money can also be treated as a transfer. For a caregiver agreement to be an allowable transfer, Indiana requires it to be in writing, list the services, the payment rate and the care provider or providers, be signed by each party, and be notarized at the time the agreement is made. It cannot be retroactively dated or applied before the date it was notarized, and lump-sum payments for past or future services are not valid and may result in a transfer of property penalty.12 Our guide to personal care agreements explains how to structure one. If you or a family member made a large gift or below-market property sale in the past five years, consult an elder law attorney before applying.

Can Someone Else Apply for You?

Yes. Federal rules require Indiana to accept an application from an adult in the applicant's household or family, from an authorized representative, or, if the applicant is incapacitated, from someone acting responsibly for them.5 If you are applying for a parent or spouse:

• You can complete and submit the application directly at the FSSA Benefits Portal using the applicant's information.
• At a DFR office, you can accompany the applicant and assist with the process.
• If the applicant cannot sign because of incapacity, a person with legal authority, such as a power of attorney or legal guardian, can act on their behalf: authority under state law, including a guardianship order or a power of attorney, must be treated as a written designation of an authorized representative. Have that document ready to give DFR.13

An applicant can authorize a representative to sign the application, complete and submit renewal forms, receive copies of DFR's notices, and act for them in all other matters with the agency. The designation carries the applicant's signature, DFR must accept it at the time of application or later through any of the channels above, and it stays valid until the applicant changes or withdraws it.13

If Your Application Is Denied

You have the right to appeal. An eligibility denial comes as a written notice from DFR, and the appeal process in that notice is the one to follow.14 Federal rules cap that request window rather than guarantee it: a state must allow a reasonable time to ask for a fair hearing, and no more than 90 days from the date the notice of action is mailed, but a state may set a shorter window.14 Indiana does. The written appeal must be filed by close of business within 33 days of the date of the notice or the adverse action, whichever is later.14 That 33-day window is what binds you, so read the notice the day it arrives, confirm the date printed on it, and act on 33 days rather than on 90.

To request a fair hearing, follow the appeal instructions on your DFR notice. The appeal must be in writing: a signed letter with your name, case number, and reason, plus a copy of the entire notice, mailed to the FSSA Document Center, PO Box 1810, Marion, IN 46952, faxed to 1-800-403-0864, or hand-delivered to your local DFR office. A mailed appeal counts as received on the day it arrives, not the day it was postmarked. An Administrative Law Judge at the Indiana Office of Administrative Law Proceedings hears the case, and there is no fee to appeal.14

If the denial was due to income being over the cap, the fix is to set up a valid Miller Trust and reapply rather than appeal, because income over $2,982 leaves you ineligible without one.1 An appeal makes sense when the denial involved an error in the eligibility determination, such as counting an exempt asset or misreading your income.

Learn More

Find personalized help applying for Indiana Medicaid at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.