Benefits in Washington: what you may be able to apply for

Washington covers immigrants unevenly by group. (1) Children under 19 — eligible for Apple Health for Kids regardless of immigration status if income-eligible. (2) Pregnant people — eligible for Apple Health for pregnant individuals and After-Pregnancy Coverage (through 12 months postpartum) regardless of immigration status. (3) Adults 19-64 and 65+ — standard Apple Health requires a qualifying immigration status (e.g., a lawful permanent resident past the 5-year bar); undocumented and other non-qualifying adults do NOT get standard Apple Health. 🔴 For undocumented adults there is a separate state-funded program, Apple Health Expansion, covering Washington residents age 19+ with income up to 138% FPL regardless of status — BUT it is capped at 13,000 enrollees and enrollment is CURRENTLY CLOSED because the cap has been met; the state has said it will not reopen enrollment while the federal H.R.1 changes are implemented. If you apply and are denied because the cap was met, you need take no further steps but may still be randomly selected if space opens. Undocumented or non-qualifying immigrants who cannot enroll can instead buy Qualified Health/Dental Plans (QHP/QDP) through Washington Healthplanfinder (a federal 1332 waiver lets people without a federally recognized status shop there) and may use Emergency Medical (AEM). 🔴 Federal change: under H.R.1 (Section 71109), effective October 1, 2026, the "qualified noncitizen" definition narrows to lawful permanent residents, certain Cuban/Haitian entrants, and COFA (Micronesia/Marshall Islands/Palau) islanders; refugees, asylees, trafficking victims, conditional entrants, people whose removal has been withheld, VAWA self-petitioners, and various parolees (including Afghan and Ukrainian humanitarian parolees) lose federally funded Apple Health after September 30, 2026 unless they have adjusted to lawful permanent resident — but children, pregnant people, and those within 12 months postpartum keep Apple Health regardless of status. This is a fast-changing area — check the latest official HCA guidance.

Washington puts children's Medicaid and CHIP under one brand, Apple Health for Kids — and the state's own income chart goes further, labeling the two premium tiers "CHIP T1" and "CHIP T2." So the immigration rules that govern Apple Health for Kids are the rules that govern its CHIP-funded coverage too. For children the headline is good news, and it is current: HCA's June 2026 "H.R.1 noncitizen fact sheet" states in a highlighted box that "Children, pregnant individuals, and individuals within 12 months postpartum continue to be eligible for Apple Health regardless of immigration status if they meet all other requirements" — and that sentence sits inside the very document explaining the October 1, 2026 federal narrowing, so children are named as preserved through that change. Unlike some states, Washington publishes the funding split instead of leaving you to guess: WAC 182-503-0535 says an undocumented person "may be eligible for: (i) Alien medical programs; (ii) State-only funded apple health for kids; or (iii) State-only funded apple health for pregnant women." So an undocumented child's coverage is paid with state dollars, not federal CHIP (Title XXI) money — federal law limits CHIP dollars to citizen and lawfully-residing children. This does not change what your family receives: your child applies on the same form and gets the same Apple Health for Kids benefit, and status is not a barrier. The premium tiers work the same way — a child who would qualify for Apple Health for Kids with premiums but for immigration status gets state-funded coverage in exchange for the same monthly premium. Adults are treated very differently: standard Apple Health requires a qualifying immigration status, and the state-funded Apple Health Expansion for undocumented adults 19+ has met its enrollment cap and is currently closed. This is a fast-changing area — check the latest official HCA guidance.

🌟 Washington is genuinely different from California here: the state runs its own food program written to catch legal immigrants federal SNAP leaves out — but read the limits before you rely on it. (1) "Basic Food" is Washington's umbrella name. DSHS states: "Basic Food is Washington's name for our food assistance program, which includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Food Assistance Program." The first piece (SNAP) is federal money; the second (FAP) is Washington's own money. (2) 🌟 The state-funded Food Assistance Program (FAP). DSHS describes it as "a state-funded program that provides food assistance to legal immigrants who aren't eligible for federal Basic Food benefits solely because of their immigration status." That definition is the whole point after the 2025 federal law: the people OBBBA cut from federal SNAP — refugees, asylees, people granted withholding of removal, parolees, victims of trafficking, battered noncitizens, conditional entrants — are lawfully present immigrants who are now ineligible for federal SNAP solely because of their immigration status, which is exactly the population FAP is built to serve, and DSHS's FAP program summary lists these humanitarian categories among those it covers. So where California's officials say their CFAP does not catch most people who lose SNAP under H.R.1, Washington's FAP is structured to catch them, paying the same benefit: "The current budget sets FAP at 100% of the federal SNAP benefit level." (3) 🔴 Two honest limits. First, FAP does not reach undocumented immigrants: "Undocumented immigrants aren't eligible for either federally funded Basic Food or state funded SNAP." Second, FAP lives on a state appropriation — "The legislature sets the benefit level for FAP in the Biennial Operating Budget" — so it is only as durable as each two-year budget; treat continued funding as a plan, not a guarantee. (4) 🔴 One thing we could not confirm officially: we did not find a DSHS page that names H.R.1 / the One Big Beautiful Bill and spells out, group by group, how FAP treats each category the federal law newly excluded. The FAP definition plainly covers legal immigrants ineligible solely due to status, but before you rely on it, confirm your own category with your local DSHS Community Services Office (877-501-2233). This is a changing area.

🌟 This is the answer to the question the federal layer leaves open. Federal rules let a state choose to limit WIC to U.S. citizens, nationals, and qualified aliens (7 CFR 246.7(c)(3)) — Washington has not taken that option, and the Washington State Department of Health says so plainly on its eligibility page: "Being on WIC does not make you a public charge and does not affect your immigration status. U.S. citizenship is not required to qualify for WIC." The same page lists what actually matters: being pregnant, recently delivered, breast/chest feeding, or an infant or child under 5; and meeting the income limits by household size — "Many working families and military families are eligible for WIC." Immigration status is not among the criteria. 🔑 Read that as an affirmative statement of state policy, not merely an absence of a contrary rule. 🌟 DOH adds: "If you or your household members are on Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Basic Food, you may be eligible for WIC, too," and a pregnant applicant should "include each unborn child in household size," which raises the income limit. 🔴 One short reassurance, with the detail on the WIC program page: WIC is not counted in the public charge test — DOH says so in the sentence quoted above. Policy can change — confirm with the WIC Cascades Support Line (1-800-841-1410) or your local WIC clinic.

🌟 This is the most valuable fact on this page. The federal EITC requires a Social Security number valid for employment, so a family that files with ITINs cannot claim it — see the federal rule for this program. Washington is different, and in a way that matters especially because Washington has no state income tax and therefore no ordinary state EITC. Instead the Washington State Department of Revenue runs the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), an EITC-style refundable credit — in the state's words, "a refund of retail sales or use tax for low-to-moderate income Washington residents who meet certain eligibility requirements" — and it is open to ITIN filers. The eligibility page lists as a requirement that you "Have a valid Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)," and the ITIN page confirms "You can use your valid ITIN to apply for the WFTC program." The state resolves the apparent catch — another requirement is that you be "Eligible to claim the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)" — directly: "If you have met all the requirements for the EITC, but are filing with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), you can still qualify for the Working Families Tax Credit." 🔑 In plain terms: a working family in Washington whose members file with ITINs, and who therefore cannot claim the federal EITC, may still be able to claim the WFTC — a cash refund of up to $1,330. We say may, not will — you must still meet every other requirement, including having lived in Washington more than half the year and being eligible for the federal EITC in all respects but the SSN. 🔴 Note the boundary: this is Washington's own credit. Claiming the WFTC with an ITIN does not make you eligible for the federal EITC and does not change your immigration status.