Michigan Medicaid Work Requirements

Michigan compliance calculator

Michigan's work requirement: two ways to comply, and two start dates

MDHHS has published the rules, and they begin on a schedule rather than all at once. If you are applying, work requirements apply from January 1, 2027, and the application will itself ask about approved activities or exemption status. If you already have Healthy Michigan Plan coverage, the requirement applies to members whose renewal date falls on or after March 1, 2027 — MDHHS checks at each renewal and first attempts an automatic renewal from information it already holds.

There are two independent ways to satisfy it, and you only need one. The income path: earn at least $580 in at least one month of the review period, counting all earned income including self-employment. The hours path: complete at least 80 hours of approved activities in a single month — paid or unpaid employment, an internship or work program, volunteering or community service, a high school or GED program, or a college or vocational program — and activities can be combined to reach 80. MDHHS is explicit that $580 is not a Medicaid income limit; it is a work-requirement threshold that sits alongside the separate eligibility test.

The review window depends on where you are in the process. Applying, you must meet the requirement in the month before you apply or the month you apply; meet it in the earlier month and coverage may start that same month, meet it in the application month and coverage may start the next. Renewing, you need one qualifying month since your last renewal, or since your coverage started if this is your first renewal.

Michigan excuses a long list of people. MDHHS's own list covers anyone already meeting SNAP or TANF work rules; pregnancy and the 12 months after giving birth; parents and caregivers of a child 13 or under; caregivers of a person with a disability; American Indian and Alaska Native people; people who were in foster care at 18 and are still under 26; disabled veterans; people in substance-use-disorder treatment; people in jail, prison, or released within the past three months; people who are medically frail or living with a substance use disorder, a physical, intellectual or developmental disability, a mental health disorder, or a serious condition requiring regular treatment; and people in a temporary hardship — care in a facility, travel outside their community for medical care, residence in a federally declared disaster area, or residence in a high-unemployment area.

One warning MDHHS gives directly: it will check available data sources for exemptions, but you may still have to notify the department. Where the match cannot see your situation, the burden lands on you — which is why the practical advice here is to report your job, your income and your activities rather than assume the state already knows.

Michigan tried this once before

Michigan is not new to this policy. An earlier work-requirement waiver was invalidated by a federal court in March 2020 and later withdrawn, so it never took effect and Healthy Michigan's expansion adults have never actually had to report hours. That history matters mainly because it means the state already has an administrative design on the shelf — but the rules above come from MDHHS's current published plan, not from the earlier waiver.

The research baseline

Healthy Michigan is the most academically studied expansion program. University of Michigan evaluations found that about half of expansion enrollees were working and most of the rest had health limitations, caregiving duties, or were in school — implying the vast majority would either pass an 80-hour test or qualify for an exemption, and that coverage losses would come predominantly from reporting failures.

That is precisely the risk profile of the six-month redetermination cycle under the federal rules: more checkpoints per year, each one an opportunity for a procedural miss. Given that Michigan's requirement can be met by income alone, the highest-value habit is simply keeping a monthly record of earnings.

What Michigan enrollees should do now

Confirm which category you are in and get it onto the record. If you care for a child 13 or under, are pregnant or within 12 months of giving birth, have a disability, or are medically frail, you are in an exemption category — but MDHHS has to be able to see it, so make sure your file reflects it rather than relying on the data match.

Then pick whichever compliance path is cheaper for you to document. If you earn at least $580 in a month, your pay records are the whole story. If your income is irregular — retail, gig, seasonal — either bank one month above $580 or keep an activity log that can reach 80 hours, and keep it monthly rather than reconstructing it at renewal.

If coverage is lost, Michigan's MI Bridges portal handles re-applications; loss of Medicaid triggers an ACA marketplace special enrollment period, and children can qualify for MIChild/CHIP. Michigan's navigator and legal-aid network, built up during the earlier unwinding, is a genuine asset — and the beneficiary help line for coverage questions is 1-800-642-3195.

Michigan Medicaid income limits — who qualifies

Adults covered through Healthy Michigan Plan qualify with household income up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Children, pregnant women, parents and people with disabilities each have their own limit. The full 2026 chart — monthly dollars for every household size and every program — lives on our dedicated Michigan Medicaid income limits page. Final determinations are made by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Sources & verification

• New Healthy Michigan Plan Work Requirements — Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (accessed 2026-09-18)
• Healthy Michigan Plan — official page — Michigan DHHS (accessed 2026-09-18)
• MI Bridges application portal — State of Michigan (accessed 2026-09-18)
• Medicaid work requirements tracker (1115 waivers) — KFF (accessed 2026-09-18)

Page last verified 2026-09-28 · Status: federal-baseline-verified; state-work-requirement-rules-verified-2026-09-18. Estimates only — your state Medicaid agency's determination controls.