To apply for Minnesota Medicaid (Medical Assistance), use the MNsure online application or send a paper application to your county or tribal servicing agency. The paper forms are the DHS-6696 and the DHS-3876, a separate application for households in which everyone fits one of the groups DHS lists for it, such as people 65 or older. Minnesota does not require a Miller Trust: an applicant whose income is over the limit qualifies through a medically needy spend-down instead. This guide covers every application channel, what happened to ApplyMN, the documents to gather, timelines, and how to appeal a denial.

In This Guide

How to Apply for Minnesota Medicaid

Minnesota takes Medical Assistance applications online through MNsure or on paper through your county or tribal servicing agency, with a separate paper form for households in which everyone fits one of the groups DHS lists for it. Pick the channel that fits your situation and follow the steps below.

1
Step 1

Apply online through MNsure

The MNsure online application is the online channel the Minnesota Department of Human Services lists for Minnesota's health care programs, including Medical Assistance. Note that DHS lists a separate paper application, the DHS-3876 in step 3, for certain households, such as ones where everyone is 65 or older.

2
Step 2

Or apply on paper with the DHS-6696

The DHS-6696 is the MNsure paper application. Complete it, attach copies of the required documents, and submit it to your county or tribal servicing agency; if you don't have the form, ask your county or tribal servicing agency for a copy. Keep a copy of everything you send for your records.

3
Step 3

Use the DHS-3876 if everyone in your household fits one of DHS's listed groups

The MHCP Application for Certain Populations (DHS-3876) is for households in which everyone is 65 or older, blind or has a disability, 21 or older with Medicare and no children under 19 at home, receiving SSI, applying only for a Medicare Savings Program, or applying for MA for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD). Submit it to your county or tribal servicing agency, and contact that agency first if you are not sure which form fits your situation.

If neither channel works for you, you still have a right to apply. Federal rules require every state Medicaid agency to accept an application online, by telephone, by mail, in person, and through other commonly available electronic means. So if you cannot use a computer and do not have a paper form in hand, ask your county or tribal servicing agency to take your application by phone or in person rather than giving up on it.

What Happened to ApplyMN?

Older guides and bookmarks may still point to ApplyMN. It is not the way in now: the ways to apply that DHS names are the MNsure online application and the paper forms (DHS-6696 and DHS-3876), and ApplyMN is not among them.

If a link or a printed guide sends you to ApplyMN, use the current channels instead: apply online at MNsure.org, or submit a paper application (DHS-6696, or DHS-3876 if everyone in your household fits one of the groups DHS lists for it) to your county or tribal servicing agency.

Minnesota's Spend-Down: No Miller Trust Required

Minnesota is a section 209(b) state that uses a medically needy spend-down rather than a Miller Trust (Qualified Income Trust). It shapes how your application is evaluated when your income is over the limit.

How it works. For Medical Assistance for people who are aged, blind, or disabled (MA-ABD), the income standard is 100% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, which DHS lists as $1,330 a month for a household of one on its July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 chart. If your income is higher and you have medical expenses, you do not automatically fail. You "spend down" the excess by incurring medical and long-term-care costs, and once those costs use up the excess, you can qualify for Medical Assistance.

For long-term care. Minnesota also sets a Special Income Standard of $2,982 a month for 2026, but DHS uses it for certain Elderly Waiver criteria; it is not the income limit for every nursing-facility or home- and community-based waiver applicant. A long-term-care enrollee who qualifies for none of Minnesota's other needs allowances keeps a $132 monthly Clothing and Personal Needs Allowance in 2026. In a nursing facility, much of the rest of your income goes toward your cost of care each month, but only after deductions that federal rules require, such as the personal needs allowance, an allowance for a spouse or family at home, and health insurance premiums and other medical costs no one else pays.

No trust to set up. For higher-income applicants Minnesota uses the spend-down pathway, so there is no separate trust document in the Minnesota route.

For a full breakdown of how Minnesota's income rules interact with eligibility, see our guide to Minnesota Medicaid eligibility and income limits.

Documents to Gather Before You Apply

Have these ready before you submit. If you hold up a step the county needs from you, federal rules let the decision run past its usual cap.

Identity and citizenship:

  • Social Security card or SSA benefit award letter
  • U.S. birth certificate, passport, or Certificate of Naturalization
  • State-issued ID or driver's license
  • Your Medicare card, if you have one; ask the county whether it can stand in for other proof

Income:

  • Social Security award letter or the most recent SSA-1099
  • Pension and retirement income statements
  • Any rental income documentation
  • Recent pay stubs if still working

Assets and financial accounts:

  • Recent statements for all checking and savings accounts; ask the county how many months it needs
  • Statements for CDs, stocks, bonds, and retirement accounts
  • For nursing-facility or waiver coverage, up to 60 months of financial account statements, because the look-back review covers the full five years

Property and insurance:

  • Deed or property tax statement for any real estate
  • Life insurance policy documents (face value and cash surrender value)
  • Vehicle title or registration
  • Pre-paid burial or funeral contract

Medical expenses (for spend-down calculations):

  • Recent medical and hospital bills
  • Prescription drug receipts
  • Health insurance premium statements

Can Someone Else Apply on Your Behalf?

Yes. Federal rules require the state to accept an application not only from the applicant but from an adult in the applicant's household or family, an authorized representative, or, if the applicant is incapacitated, someone acting responsibly for them.

Ask your county or tribal servicing agency how to name an authorized representative before you submit, so the county knows who it may talk to about the application.

If the applicant lacks capacity, someone acting responsibly for them, such as an agent under a power of attorney or a court-appointed guardian, can apply on their behalf; have the document that shows that authority ready. That covers, for example, an adult child applying for a parent whose dementia leaves them unable to apply.

What Happens After You Apply

Once the county receives your application, a worker reviews it and may ask to interview you. The federal rule against requiring an in-person interview covers only MAGI-based determinations, so it does not by its terms protect an application on the aged, blind or disabled basis most older adults use. Federal Medicaid rules cap how long the county may take to decide: the determination may not exceed 45 days for most applicants, or 90 days for applicants who apply for Medicaid on the basis of disability, measured from the date you apply, except in unusual circumstances such as a delay you or an examining physician causes. Which cap applies turns on the basis you applied under, not on whether a disability determination happens to arise while the county works your file. An older adult applying on the basis of age is on the 45-day cap even in a long-term-care case with a level-of-care assessment, so a county quoting 90 days there is describing its workload, not the federal standard. And these are ceilings on the county, not a decision you are promised on the last day.

If the county asks for additional documents, respond by the date it gives you: a delay on your side is one of the unusual circumstances that lets the decision run past the federal cap.

To check your status, contact your county or tribal servicing agency, the office that processes your application.

If you are approved, coverage can reach back in time: once you are found eligible, federal law sets a default of covering qualifying services furnished as far back as the third month before the month you applied, if you would have been eligible when you received them. The exact start date inside that window is set in each state's plan, and a federal demonstration waiver can make a state's window shorter, so confirm Minnesota's window with your county or tribal servicing agency. For applications filed on or after January 1, 2027, that retroactive window shortens to two months before the application month for most enrollees, and one month for the Medicaid adult expansion group.

What Happens If You're Denied

If your application is denied, you have the right to a fair hearing through the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Go by the deadline printed on your denial notice. For a county or state decision, DHS tells you to ask for a hearing within 30 days after you get the written decision. In some cases you may have up to 90 days, but that longer window is not automatic, so ask the DHS Appeals Division rather than assuming you have it. Under 42 CFR 431.221(d) a state must allow a reasonable time to request a hearing, and that time may not exceed 90 days from the date the notice is mailed. Ninety days is the ceiling on what Minnesota may allow, never a minimum you are owed, and a shorter state deadline still applies to you. Read the notice the day it arrives, request the hearing at once rather than pacing yourself against the outer limit, and if the deadline is missing or unclear, call your county or tribal servicing agency and ask before the date passes.

Request a state fair hearing on the Appeal to State Agency form (DHS-0033), which the DHS Appeals Division accepts online, by mail, or by fax; your county or tribal servicing agency can also point you to it. A different clock applies when a managed care health plan, rather than the county, denies or cuts a service: 60 days from the plan's notice to file the plan's internal appeal, then 120 days from the plan's appeal decision to request a state fair hearing, and only 10 days from the plan's notice, or from its appeal decision, if you want the disputed service to keep running meanwhile. That protection covers a previously authorized service the plan is reducing, suspending or ending, not a plan's denial of a new service, and if the plan's decision is upheld, the plan may recover the cost of services it kept providing during the appeal. If a health plan made the decision, the Ombudsperson for Public Managed Health Care Programs can help you request a state appeal and prepare for the hearing. For questions about a county denial, contact your county or tribal servicing agency.

Where to Get Free Help

You do not have to figure this out alone. Paper Medical Assistance applications go to your county or tribal servicing agency, so that office is the natural first stop for questions about your application. Minnesota Aging Pathways, below, offers free help with the forms, including help applying for Medical Assistance.

County and Tribal Servicing Agencies The offices that receive and process paper Medical Assistance applications (DHS-6696 and DHS-3876); contact yours with questions about your application or spend-down. mn.gov/dhs
Minnesota Aging Pathways Formerly the Senior LinkAge Line, a free, statewide service of the Minnesota Board on Aging in partnership with Minnesota's area agencies on aging; its help includes forms assistance, such as help applying for Medical Assistance, and long-term care planning. mn.gov/senior-linkage-line
Elder Law and Medicaid Planning Attorneys For complex situations, especially a spend-down calculation or the look-back review, a qualified attorney can identify options and protect assets within the law, particularly when assets were transferred in the five years before applying. Medicaid planning strategies

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Minnesota require a Miller Trust to qualify for Medicaid?

No. Minnesota does not use Miller Trusts (Qualified Income Trusts). Instead, the state uses a medically needy spend-down. If your income exceeds the income standard (100% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, which DHS lists as $1,330 a month for a household of one from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027) and you have medical expenses, you qualify by incurring medical and care costs equal to the excess. No separate trust document is required.

What is the asset limit for Minnesota Medical Assistance?

For a single applicant, the countable asset limit is $3,000. For a household of two, it is $6,000, plus $200 for each additional household member. Both limits are higher than the $2,000 federal SSI resource standard. Assets that are not counted include your home (subject to a $752,000 home equity limit for 2026 that DHS applies only in specific situations), a motor vehicle used to transport you or a household member, household goods and certain personal effects, and prepaid burial spaces and burial space items.

Can I apply for Minnesota Medicaid through MNsure?

Yes. The MNsure online application is the online channel DHS lists for applying, and the MNsure paper form (DHS-6696) is submitted to your county or tribal servicing agency. DHS lists a separate paper application, the MHCP Application for Certain Populations (DHS-3876), for households in which everyone is 65 or older, blind or has a disability, 21 or older with Medicare and no children under 19 at home, receiving SSI, applying only for a Medicare Savings Program, or applying for MA-EPD.

Is ApplyMN still available for Minnesota Medicaid applications?

Not as a listed channel. The ways to apply that DHS names are the MNsure online application and the paper forms DHS-6696 and DHS-3876; ApplyMN is not among them. If an older guide points you to ApplyMN, apply online through MNsure or submit a paper application to your county or tribal servicing agency instead.

How long does the Minnesota Medicaid application take?

Federal Medicaid rules cap the agency at 45 days on most applications, or 90 days for applicants who apply for Medicaid on the basis of disability, counting from the date you apply. The longer window follows the basis you applied under, not whether a disability question arises, so an age-based application stays on the 45-day cap. Both are outer limits on the agency rather than a promised decision date, and the clock can run past them in the unusual circumstances the rules list. If you have not heard back within your window, contact your county or tribal servicing agency, and respond to any county document request quickly in the meantime.

Can Minnesota Medicaid recover from my estate after I die?

Yes. Federal and state law require DHS and county or Tribal agencies to recover what Medical Assistance paid for specified services. Under Minn. Stat. 256B.15, a claim is filed if the person was 55 or older and received nursing facility services, home and community-based services, or related hospital and prescription drug services, or if, at any age, the person lived in a medical institution for six months or longer and could not reasonably have been expected to return home. A surviving spouse, or a surviving child who is under 21, blind, or permanently and totally disabled, delays recovery rather than ending it, and an heir can ask for an undue-hardship waiver, but that request must arrive within 30 days of the date listed in the estate claim notice. For more detail, see our guide to Medicaid estate recovery explained.

What is the Personal Needs Allowance in Minnesota?

Minnesota's Clothing and Personal Needs Allowance is $132 a month for January 1 through December 31, 2026. DHS uses it when a long-term-care enrollee does not qualify for any of its other needs allowances, such as the Home Maintenance Allowance, so it is the default amount rather than what every enrollee keeps. It is more than four times the $30 federal floor for an institutionalized individual, and the personal needs allowance is deducted before income is counted toward the cost of care.

Your next step Start your Minnesota Medical Assistance application through MNsure, or contact your county or tribal servicing agency for a paper application (DHS-6696, or DHS-3876 if everyone in your household fits one of the groups DHS lists for it).

Learn More

MedicaidHow to Apply for Medicaid by State: Steps, Documents, and Where to ApplyHow to apply for Medicaid: the ways you can apply, the documents to gather, how long a decision takes, and the application guide for your state. MedicaidMinnesota Medicaid Eligibility and Income LimitsSee the 2026 Minnesota Medicaid income limits: 138% FPG with no asset test under 65, the 100% FPG and $3,000 asset rules at 65, and the spend-down. MedicaidMedicaid Planning StrategiesSee which assets you keep, how the 5-year look-back works, and the legal moves that qualify you for Medicaid long-term care without losing the house. MedicaidMedicaid Estate Recovery ExplainedMedicaid estate recovery can claim a home after death, but not while a spouse or a child under 21, blind or disabled survives. See your state's rules.

Find personalized help applying for Minnesota Medical Assistance 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.

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