Hawaii Medicaid Income Limits 2026: Med-QUEST Chart

Applying is free, and Med-QUEST is health coverage, not cash. For limits in other states, see our national Medicaid income limits guide.

Hawaii Medicaid Income Limits by Household Size (2026)

Med-QUEST publishes 6 MAGI income standards, and every one of them is built on Hawaii's 2026 poverty guideline of $18,360 a year for one person rather than the $15,960 used in the 48 contiguous states. Per the Med-QUEST 2026 MAGI chart, each group has a minimum standard and a maximum that adds the 5% disregard. The table shows the maximum, which is the highest gross monthly income that can still qualify.

Source: Hawaii DHS Med-QUEST Division, 2026 MAGI Income Standards (Effective 01/13/2026) (opens in a new tab), "MAX MAGI STD" columns. The base standards without the disregard are 100%, 133%, 139%, 191% and 308%. The chart lists infants under 1 and pregnant women at the same percentage.

Yearly equivalents for expansion adults

Grantsights multiplied Med-QUEST's monthly figures by 12. Med-QUEST doesn't publish a yearly column, and eligibility is decided on current monthly income.

Seniors, disability and Medicare savings limits

People who qualify because they're 65 or older, blind or disabled are measured against Med-QUEST's MAGI-Excepted standards, which sit on page 2 of the same chart.

Source: Med-QUEST 2026 MAGI-Excepted Income Standards and Asset Limits (opens in a new tab), effective 01/13/2026. Each extra household member adds $250 to the aged, blind, disabled and spenddown asset limit.

How Med-QUEST Counts Your Income

2 separate rulebooks decide eligibility in Hawaii, and the eligibility worker uses whichever one fits the person applying.

MAGI rules apply to children, parents and caretaker relatives, pregnant women and adults 19 to 64. These rules follow federal tax definitions: wages, net self-employment income, unemployment benefits and taxable Social Security count, while child support received and SSI payments don't. Your household is generally the people on your tax return, and a pregnant woman counts herself plus each expected baby. The chart's footnote is blunt: assets are exempt for anyone under MAGI methodology.

The 5% disregard works differently from what many people assume. Per the chart's footnotes, it's added only to the highest income standard you could qualify for, and only if it makes you eligible. In dollars, it's the gap between the minimum and maximum columns: for one adult that's $2,035 versus $2,112, so the disregard is worth $77 a month. For a family of four, it's $158 ($4,207 versus $4,365).

MAGI-Excepted rules cover aged, blind and disabled applicants, Medicare savings programs and the medically needy spenddown. These count income the way SSI does, allow certain deductions, and check what you own.

For example, a family of three in Honolulu earning $3,700 a month gross (a single parent with a 3-year-old and a 10-year-old) gets split results. The parent is specifically $86 over the $3,614 adult limit, so the parent doesn't qualify. The 3-year-old qualifies because the age 1 to 5 limit for three is $3,771. The 10-year-old is over the $3,614 limit for school-age children but far under the $8,196 CHIP line, so that child is covered too. Both kids end up on Med-QUEST through QUEST Integration, while the parent looks at Marketplace coverage.

Hawaii Medicaid Asset Limits

$2,000 for one person and $3,000 for a couple is the asset limit for aged, blind and disabled coverage and the medically needy spenddown, per the 2026 MAGI-Excepted asset table, with $250 more for each additional household member. Adults, parents, children and pregnant women on MAGI coverage don't face any asset test.

The other asset limits are more generous:

• $9,950 for one person and $14,910 for a couple for QMB, SLMB and QI-1, the Medicare savings programs that pay Medicare premiums and, for QMB, cost sharing.
• $4,000 for one and $6,000 for two for QDWI, which pays Part A premiums for certain working people with disabilities.

Nursing home and long-term care. Hawaii checks long-term care applicants under its aged, blind and disabled groups, and Med-QUEST's programs page describes a medically needy spenddown for aged, blind or disabled people who have medical expenses and would otherwise be over the limit. Med-QUEST's application page lists separate forms (DHS 1100B, 1167, 1169, 1169A, 8003 and 8004) for anyone who needs long-term care services. When one spouse needs that care, federal spousal rules protect part of the couple's assets and income for the spouse at home. CMS's updated 2026 standards set the community spouse's protected resources between $32,532 and $162,660, and list Hawaii's own minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance as $3,111.25 (effective July 1, 2026), higher than the $2,705 used in most states. Families planning a nursing home move should talk with Legal Aid or an elder law attorney before transferring property or money.

Expansion vs Non-Expansion: Where Hawaii Stands in 2026

Hawaii is an expansion state, so adults 19 to 64 qualify at 133% of the poverty guideline plus the 5% disregard whether or not they have children. The Medicaid.gov eligibility levels table (opens in a new tab) (as of December 1, 2023) lists Hawaii at 133% for expansion adults, 105% for parents and caretakers, 191% for pregnant women and 308% for children, and notes that the dollar values behind those percentages are higher in Alaska and Hawaii than anywhere else. Our guides to California and Washington cover two other West Coast expansion states, and the Texas Medicaid income limits guide shows what adults face in a state that didn't expand.

What H.R. 1 changes in Hawaii. Med-QUEST's May 28, 2026 Medicaid Advisory Committee presentation (opens in a new tab)/MAC%20Q2%20Meeting%20Deck%20for%2005.28.26%20-%20Final%20(1).pdf) lays out two changes starting January 1, 2027 for adults 19 to 64 who aren't blind, disabled or pregnant:

• Work or community engagement. To keep coverage, adults in this group will need to show at least 80 hours a month of work or volunteering, monthly earnings of at least $580, or at least half-time enrollment in school.
• Six-month renewals instead of yearly ones.
• How it's checked. Med-QUEST plans to look at the month before the application month for new applicants and any one month of the prior six at renewal, using payroll and other data before asking you for proof. If verification fails, you'll get a notice and 30 days to show you meet the rule.
• Exemptions include parents or caregivers of a child 13 or younger or a disabled person, pregnant and postpartum people, foster youth under 26, people eligible through the Indian Health Service, veterans rated totally disabled, people who are medically frail, people in qualifying substance use treatment, and people released from incarceration within the last three months.

Med-QUEST estimated in that presentation that 19,000 to 38,000 expansion adults could lose coverage from the work rules and six-month renewals combined.

Already in effect: immigrant eligibility. Med-QUEST's December 19, 2025 briefing to the Hawaii Senate (opens in a new tab) says that starting October 1, 2026, refugees, humanitarian parolees, asylum grantees, certain survivors of violence or abuse and certain trafficking victims lose eligibility for full Medicaid. DHS estimated 1,200 to 2,400 members would be affected, that most would be left with emergency services only, and that about 200 might qualify for the state-funded aged, blind or disabled category. Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants, a large group in Hawaii, aren't on DHS's list of affected statuses. None of these changes alter the income limits above.

What Med-QUEST Doesn't Tell You About the Income Limits

Grantsights found 5 things the chart leaves for applicants to work out on their own:

1. Hawaii's limits are higher for a reason, and generic calculators are worse than useless here. Many national websites quote the mainland 138% figure of $1,835.50 a month for one adult. Grantsights analysis of the Med-QUEST chart against the 2026 HHS 48-state guideline shows Hawaii's single-adult limit is $276.50 a month higher, and the four-person limit is $569.50 higher ($4,365 versus $3,795.50). Someone who checks a generic calculator may wrongly decide they earn too much.
2. The parent limit almost never matters. The parent and caretaker group stops at $2,750 for a family of three, while the adult group goes to $3,614. Parents are checked under the adult group too, so the lower number isn't a ceiling for most working parents.
3. Kids are covered far higher than adults. The CHIP group reaches $9,899 a month for a family of four, more than double the adult limit. That's $118,788 a year. Families who underestimate this skip applying for their children because a parent was turned down.
4. The chart changed in January, not April. Med-QUEST's 2026 chart took effect January 13, 2026, while earlier charts started March 1 (2023 and 2024) and January 1 (2025). A 2025 limit of $2,069 for one adult rose to $2,112, and the four-person limit rose from $4,253 to $4,365. A denial based on last year's chart may not hold now.
5. Senior limits are a different test. The $2,112 adult number doesn't apply to someone on Medicare or someone 65 or older. Their main limit is $1,530 a month with a $2,000 asset cap, and the medically needy route uses a much lower $469 income level with a spenddown on top.

Common Mistakes and Red Flags

These are the errors that most often give Hawaii applicants the wrong answer:

• Using take-home pay. Every MAGI limit is gross monthly income. Pre-tax retirement and health premiums come off; income taxes don't.
• Leaving out the baby. A common mistake is listing a pregnant woman as a household of one. The unborn child counts, which moves her from the one-person to the two-person row.
• Counting the wrong people. Roommates and adult relatives who file their own taxes generally aren't in your MAGI household, even if you share an apartment.
• Missing the renewal letter. Med-QUEST's renewal page (opens in a new tab) says it sends a pink renewal letter, a text, an email or all three. From 2027, many expansion adults renew twice a year, so an outdated mailing address is a red flag for losing coverage you still qualify for.
• Paying for help. Applying for Med-QUEST is free. A red flag is anyone who charges a fee, asks for gift cards, or wants your bank login to "speed up" an application. Med-QUEST eligibility offices and the health plans never charge to enroll.

How to Apply for Med-QUEST and How Long It Takes

Federal Medicaid rules at 42 CFR 435.912 (opens in a new tab) give a state 45 days to decide most applications and 90 days when eligibility depends on a disability. Med-QUEST's How to Apply page (opens in a new tab) lists three ways to apply:

1. Online at medical.mybenefits.hawaii.gov (opens in a new tab), which Med-QUEST calls the fastest route.
2. By phone at Med-QUEST Customer Service, 1-800-316-8005 (TTY 1-855-889-4325 or 711).
3. By mail or fax using form DHS 1100, sent to the eligibility office nearest you. Applicants with a disability add forms DHS 1100B, 1127 and 1128.

Once you're approved, you'll get an enrollment packet to pick a QUEST Integration health plan in your area. A newborn whose mother is enrolled is placed in her plan for at least the first 30 days. Bring your most recent pay stubs or last year's tax return, Social Security numbers for everyone applying, and COFA, green card or other immigration papers if they apply. If you also need food help, our Hawaii food stamps guide covers SNAP, which uses different limits.

What to Do If You're Denied

You have 90 calendar days from the date on the notice for Med-QUEST to receive your request, according to its Rights and Responsibilities page (opens in a new tab). You can ask for an informal review with the eligibility worker or supervisor, an administrative hearing with a hearing officer, or both; you don't have to go through the informal review first. Requests can be made in person, by phone, by mail or electronically, and a written request can be on any paper.

Med-QUEST will give you information about a Legal Aid office that may represent you for free. If your coverage continues while you wait and the hearing decision goes against you, the same page warns you may have to repay the cost. Before filing, compare the income on the notice with your gross pay and household size, and check whether the worker applied the 5% disregard. Questions about a health plan's decision on a service go through that plan's own grievance and appeal process instead.

If You're Over the Hawaii Medicaid Limit

At least 5 other options are worth checking if you're just above the line:

• A private plan with tax credits. Hawaii residents shop on the federal Marketplace, where HealthCare.gov's savings page (opens in a new tab) explains premium tax credits for people over 138%. A Med-QUEST denial or closure lets you enroll outside open enrollment.
• Coverage for the kids. The CHIP group runs to 313% of the Hawaii guideline, so children are often covered when a parent isn't.
• Medically needy spenddown. Pregnant women, children and aged, blind or disabled people with medical bills can qualify after spending down income above the medically needy level.
• Medicare savings programs pay premiums for people with Medicare up to $1,836 a month (SLMB) or $2,066 (QI-1) for one person.
• WIC serves pregnant women, new mothers and young children; see our WIC income limits guide.

Older relatives may also fit the cash and service programs in our SSI income limits guide and help for seniors programs guide. Hawaii households with high electric bills can compare the LIHEAP income limits guide, and the federal poverty guidelines guide shows how Hawaii's separate guideline is set. For needs beyond health coverage, Grantsights' free eligibility checker points you to official programs for rent, utilities and food. It doesn't decide Med-QUEST eligibility or file anything for you; it shows where to apply.

FAQ: Hawaii Medicaid Income Limits

What is the income limit for Hawaii Medicaid in 2026?

$2,112 a month for one adult and $4,365 for four, effective January 13, 2026.

How much can a family of 4 make and get Med-QUEST in Hawaii?

$4,365 a month for the adults; children 1 to 5 up to $4,554; all children under 19 up to $9,899 through CHIP.

What is the Med-QUEST income limit for pregnant women?

$4,066 a month for a household of two and $5,132 for three.

Does Hawaii Medicaid have an asset limit?

Only for aged, blind and disabled coverage: $2,000 for one person and $3,000 for two.

What is the Medicaid income limit for seniors in Hawaii?

$1,530 a month for one person and $2,075 for two, with the same asset limits.

When do Med-QUEST work requirements start?

January 1, 2027, for expansion adults 19 to 64 who aren't exempt.

How long do I have to appeal a Med-QUEST denial?

90 calendar days from the date on the notice.

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Sources

1. Hawaii DHS Med-QUEST Division: 2026 MAGI and MAGI-Excepted Income Standards Chart (opens in a new tab), effective January 13, 2026
2. Med-QUEST: Rules and Policies (opens in a new tab) - chart history, 2020 through 2026
3. Med-QUEST: 2025 MAGI Max Income Limit and MAGI-Excepted Standards (opens in a new tab), effective January 1, 2025
4. Med-QUEST: Medicaid Programs (opens in a new tab) - QUEST Integration groups and the medically needy spenddown
5. Med-QUEST: Apply for Medicaid (opens in a new tab)
6. Med-QUEST: Renewals (opens in a new tab)
7. Med-QUEST: Rights and Responsibilities (opens in a new tab) - 90-day hearing request deadline
8. Med-QUEST: Medicaid Advisory Committee presentation, May 28, 2026 (opens in a new tab)/MAC%20Q2%20Meeting%20Deck%20for%2005.28.26%20-%20Final%20(1).pdf) - work requirements and six-month renewals from January 1, 2027
9. Hawaii DHS: Anticipated effects of H.R. 1 on Medicaid eligibility, Senate briefing, December 19, 2025 (opens in a new tab) - noncitizen changes from October 1, 2026
10. HHS ASPE: 2026 Poverty Guidelines (opens in a new tab) - separate Hawaii guidelines
11. CMS: Updated 2026 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards (opens in a new tab) - Hawaii MMMNA and resource range
12. Medicaid.gov eligibility levels table, Hawaii row (opens in a new tab) (data as of December 1, 2023)
13. eCFR: 42 CFR 435.912, how long a state has to decide (opens in a new tab)
14. HealthCare.gov: Lower costs on Marketplace coverage (opens in a new tab)