Medicaid
Public health insurance for low-income people, jointly funded by the federal and state governments. It covers doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, pregnancy, and children's care. States run it under federal rules, and each state has its own name and details (California calls it Medi-Cal).
이 주의 주요 차이점
Wisconsin runs its family Medicaid and CHIP as one program, BadgerCare Plus, through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS); you apply through ACCESS (access.wisconsin.gov) or your county/tribal agency. 🌟 Wisconsin is unusual: it did NOT adopt the ACA adult expansion to 138% FPL, yet it still covers adults — including childless adults — up to 100% FPL (the childless-adult group is covered under a federal Section 1115 waiver), so Wisconsin has no "coverage gap." Wisconsin's official 2026 income table sets the adult limit at exactly 100% FPL, children up to 306% FPL (with a premium above the 201% FPL threshold), and pregnant people up to 306% FPL. 🔴 On immigration status (safety-critical, from the BadgerCare Plus Eligibility Handbook P-10171, Release 26-02): full-benefit BadgerCare Plus requires U.S. citizenship or a "qualifying immigrant" status, and immigrants who arrived on or after August 22, 1996 are "subject to a five-year waiting period to receive federal benefits (including BadgerCare Plus and Medicaid), other than emergency services." 🌟 But Wisconsin has adopted the CHIPRA Section 214 / ICHIA option for BOTH lawfully present children (under 19) and pregnant people, who "may qualify for BadgerCare Plus if they are lawfully present in the U.S." without the five-year wait; refugees, asylees, those with deportation/removal withheld, Cuban-Haitian entrants, COFA citizens, trafficking victims, and others are also exempt from the five-year bar. 🔴 Did-not-find, stated honestly: unlike California or Illinois, we found no Wisconsin state-funded program giving full-scope Medicaid to undocumented adults or children — a person who is not a qualifying immigrant nor lawfully present (for example, someone who is undocumented) can receive "BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services only." 🔴🔴 A critical safety nuance: undocumented CHILDLESS ADULTS do NOT even get Emergency Services — the handbook states "Immigrants who only meet the criteria for BadgerCare Plus under the childless adults' coverage group are ineligible for Emergency Services" (because that group is waiver-funded, not state-plan Medicaid). Emergency Services (regardless of status, for an emergency medical condition including childbirth) is available to the categorically eligible: pregnant people (up to 306% FPL), children, and parents/caretakers (up to 100% FPL). 🌟 Separately, the BadgerCare Plus Prenatal Program covers prenatal care for pregnant people regardless of immigration status (including undocumented pregnant people). 🔴 Mixed-status protection: "The citizen spouse or child of an ineligible immigrant may still be eligible even though the immigrant is not," and DHS "member information cannot be shared... for immigration enforcement purposes." Applying for or receiving coverage for your children does not require the parents to have status. 🔴 A federal law change is scheduled to narrow immigrant Medicaid/CHIP eligibility effective October 1, 2026; because these rules are safety-critical and changing, verify your own household through ACCESS or your county/tribal agency.
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Public health coverage for children in families whose income is too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford private coverage. It is jointly funded by the federal and state governments (Title XXI of the Social Security Act). Each state designs and runs its own program under federal rules — as a separate CHIP, as a Medicaid-expansion CHIP, or both — so the name, income limits, and details differ by state (state eligibility levels range from about 170% to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level). Besides children, some states' separate CHIP programs also cover pregnant women.
이 주의 주요 차이점
🔑 Wisconsin has no separately branded CHIP — children's CHIP is run inside the same program as family Medicaid, BadgerCare Plus (Wisconsin has a "combination" CHIP administered by DHS as one system). Because of that, this site does not give Wisconsin CHIP its own detail page; it is folded into the state's Medicaid/children page (detailPage: merged-into-medicaid). In practice, a Wisconsin child is covered from the lowest incomes up to 306% FPL — the official 2026 table sets a "children premium threshold" at 201% FPL, meaning children above 201% FPL (generally the CHIP-funded tier) can stay enrolled but pay a monthly premium, up to the 306% FPL cap. 🔴 CHIP's immigration rules are the same as Wisconsin Medicaid (BadgerCare Plus Eligibility Handbook P-10171): full coverage requires the child to be a U.S. citizen or a qualifying immigrant; 🌟 but Wisconsin has elected CHIPRA Section 214 / ICHIA, so a lawfully present child skips the usual five-year waiting period ("lawfully present children may qualify for BadgerCare Plus"), and refugees/asylees and other humanitarian categories are exempt from the five-year bar under federal rules. 🔴 Did-not-find, stated honestly: unlike New York, Illinois, or California, we found no Wisconsin state-funded program covering undocumented children — undocumented children are not within BadgerCare Plus/CHIP coverage and can only get BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services (for an emergency medical condition). 🔴 A child's eligibility depends on the child's own status, not the parents' — a lawfully present child of undocumented parents can still enroll, and DHS does not share member information for immigration enforcement. Public charge: the handbook states that "no services provided under CHIP are considered in public charge determinations." 🔴 A federal change is scheduled to narrow immigrant Medicaid/CHIP eligibility effective October 1, 2026; rely on the current rule and verify through ACCESS or your county/tribal agency.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, "food stamps")
Monthly food benefits that help low-income households buy the food they need. Benefits come on an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card — EBT has been the sole method of SNAP issuance in all states since June 2004 — which you swipe like a bank card at authorized grocery stores. The benefit amount is based on the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan, updated each year to keep pace with food prices, and depends on your household size and how much monthly income is left after certain expenses are deducted. It is a federal program (USDA Food and Nutrition Service), but state public assistance agencies run it through their local offices — you must apply in the state where you currently live, so the application and the local name vary by state (California calls it CalFresh). Benefits generally arrive no later than 30 days after the office receives your application; households with little or no money that need help right away may get benefits within 7 days.
이 주의 주요 차이점
Wisconsin administers SNAP — which Wisconsin calls FoodShare — through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS); apply via ACCESS (access.wisconsin.gov) or your county/tribal agency. 🔑 Wisconsin uses a broad form of Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE): unlike Ohio, which keeps its gross income limit at 130% FPL, Wisconsin uses BBCE to raise the gross income limit to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level — Wisconsin DHS's official FoodShare monthly income table shows a "200% FPL Gross Income Limit" column; it also lists 130% FPL as a "reporting limit" (after you enroll, you must report to the agency when your household's gross income goes above 130% FPL); the net income test is 100% FPL under federal rules (the standard calculation includes deductions/credits). Households with a member age 60+ or disabled follow different income rules. 🔴 SNAP immigration rules are governed by the shared federal SNAP page and are safety-critical — do not rely on this row alone, and see the federal SNAP program page for the current, authoritative immigrant-eligibility framework and any statutory alerts (including the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act's narrowing of noncitizen SNAP eligibility). Because these rules are in flux and getting them wrong can jeopardize a household, verify your own eligibility through ACCESS or your county/tribal agency. A member being ineligible does not necessarily bar the rest of a mixed-status household — eligible members (including U.S.-citizen children) can still receive FoodShare.
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Nutrition support for pregnancy and early childhood. In USDA's own words, WIC "serves to safeguard the health of low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating including breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care." Coverage runs from pregnancy until a child turns 5: pregnant women; postpartum women (up to 6 months after the end of a pregnancy); breastfeeding women (up to the infant's first birthday); infants; and children up to their fifth birthday. Every applicant first gets a free, simple health check by WIC staff, and must be individually determined to be at nutrition risk by a health professional — two major types are recognized: medically-based risks such as anemia, underweight, a history of pregnancy complications, or poor pregnancy outcomes; and dietary risks such as inappropriate feeding practices or failure to meet the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Food benefits come on an eWIC card, which works just like a debit card and can be used at WIC-approved grocery stores and farmers' markets. Benefits are not limited to food: they also include health screening, nutrition and breastfeeding counseling, immunization screening and referral, and substance abuse referral. It is a federal program (USDA), but in USDA's words, "while funded through grants from the Federal Government, WIC is administered by 89 State agencies," with services at county health departments, hospitals, schools, Indian Health Service facilities, and other clinic locations — you apply through a WIC agency in your area, so the local name and process vary. Moms, dads, foster parents, and anyone else raising kids under 5 can apply for the kids in their care.
이 주의 주요 차이점
🔴🌟 WIC's immigration rules are safety-critical, and Wisconsin's WIC page is unusually clear and reassuring, so read this carefully. Wisconsin runs WIC through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), and you apply through your local WIC agency. 🌟 The DHS "WIC: Who is Eligible?" page states plainly: "WIC staff will not ask about your immigration status. You don't have to be a legal resident of the U.S. to get WIC benefits." That is an affirmative statement — unlike some states whose pages are merely silent, Wisconsin's page says in so many words that immigration status is not asked and legal residency is not required. This is consistent with how WIC works everywhere: WIC has no citizenship or immigration-status requirement of its own, and no Social Security number is required to apply. The page lists exactly what you must be or do: "To get WIC benefits, you must: Live in Wisconsin. Make a certain amount of money. Need help with health, nutrition, or breastfeeding support. Have one of these apply to you: You are pregnant now or had a baby in the past six months … You care for a child younger than 5 years of age." 🔴 Because getting this wrong can harm a family, and because WIC's immigrant framework is federal, verify your own situation with your local WIC agency. For public charge, rely on this program's federal rule — WIC is generally not a public-charge consideration, but treat the federal rule, not this row, as the authority.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
A refundable federal tax credit for low- to moderate-income working people and families. In the IRS's words, the EITC "helps low- to moderate-income workers and families get a tax break. If you qualify, you can use the credit to reduce the taxes you owe – and maybe increase your refund." The key word is refundable — as the IRS puts it, "This is a refundable credit, so you can get back more than you pay in taxes." In plain terms: you can get money back even if you owe no tax at all. You must have earned income (wages, salary, tips, or self-employment income), and you claim it on your federal tax return — there is no separate application form, no office to visit, and no waiting list. The credit is larger if you have qualifying children, but workers without any children can also get a smaller version. For tax year 2025 (the return you file in 2026), the maximum credit is $649 with no qualifying children, $4,328 with one, $7,152 with two, and $8,046 with three or more. The tax year 2025 income cutoffs (adjusted gross income) are $19,104 (single, head of household, married filing separately, or qualifying surviving spouse) or $26,214 (married filing jointly) with no children; $50,434 / $57,554 with one child; $57,310 / $64,430 with two; and $61,555 / $68,675 with three or more. Investment income must be $11,950 or less for tax year 2025. These amounts are adjusted every year — rely on the IRS tables for the year you are actually filing. This is a purely federal program, administered directly by the IRS under one nationwide set of rules; states have no role in the federal EITC. But note: separately from this federal credit, many states and some local governments run their own state EITC, usually set as a percentage of the federal credit, varying in whether it is refundable, and sometimes with different rules — see your state's details.
이 주의 주요 차이점
🔴🌟 Three honest facts, and please hold all. (1) Wisconsin DOES have a state earned-income credit, and it is refundable — do not assume otherwise. Wisconsin has a state personal income tax (you file Form 1), and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) states: "The Wisconsin earned income credit is a special tax benefit for certain working families with at least one qualifying child. The earned income credit is refundable. This means that a qualifying claimant will receive the full benefit of the credit regardless of the net tax computed on their return, including those whose Wisconsin income is not high enough to incur a tax." So a very-low-income family that owes little or no Wisconsin tax can still receive it as a cash refund. (2) 🔴 Wisconsin's credit has an unusual structure you should know: it is a percentage of your federal credit that steps up sharply with the number of children — DOR: "Number of Qualifying Children / Percentage of Federal Credit: 0 No credit available; 1 4% of federal credit; 2 11% of federal credit; 3 or more 34% of federal credit." 🔴 Read the first row carefully: a worker with NO qualifying children gets no Wisconsin credit at all — Wisconsin's credit requires "at least one qualifying child," so a childless worker who can claim the small federal childless EITC gets nothing extra from Wisconsin. You must also be a full-year Wisconsin resident. (3) 🔴 Wisconsin's credit is bootstrapped onto the federal EITC: you must "Meet the federal earned income credit requirements." The federal EITC requires a Social Security number valid for employment for the filer, the spouse, and each qualifying child (a federal rule — see this program's federal rule and rely on the IRS), so a family that files with ITINs cannot claim the federal EITC and therefore cannot claim the Wisconsin credit either. 🔴 Note the boundary: this is Wisconsin's own credit, claimed on your Wisconsin return; it does not change your immigration status. Verify your own situation with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and the IRS.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a monthly federal cash payment from the Social Security Administration (SSA) for people who have very little income and few resources AND who are age 65 or older, blind, or have a qualifying disability (children can qualify too). To get SSI, your countable resources must stay under $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple. It is run directly by the federal government under one nationwide standard — the 2026 maximum federal payment is $994/month for an individual and $1,491/month for a couple — and some states add a small state supplement on top.
이 주의 주요 차이점
🔴 SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is a federal program run by the Social Security Administration (SSA) — who can get it and the immigration rules (why you generally must be a "qualified alien," the exemptions for refugees/asylees/certain veterans, and the limits after PRWORA in 1996) all live in this program's federal rule and are not repeated here; rely on this program's federal rule and the SSA. This row carries only Wisconsin's state layer. (1) 🌟 On top of federal SSI, Wisconsin adds a State SSI Payment (state supplement). Per Wisconsin DHS's SSI Payment Levels handbook, "You can receive the state SSI payment only if you qualify for a federal SSI payment" and "Everyone who qualifies for a federal SSI payment of any amount automatically qualifies for the maximum state SSI payment" — you do not apply separately, and you receive both payments in the first week of each month. 🔴🌟 The key distinction: Wisconsin pays its state supplement to recipients who live independently (the DHS payment-levels table lists an Independent Living state payment), unlike Texas, Florida, and Georgia, which supplement only facility/congregate care. Two Wisconsin add-ons matter: (a) the Caretaker Supplement (CTS) pays SSI parents who live with their dependent children — per Wisconsin's CTS handbook, "2023 Wisconsin Act 19 increased the benefit to $275 per month for the first eligible child and $165 per month for each subsequent eligible child" (effective July 2023), and "For SSI purposes, CTS benefits are viewed as part of Wisconsin's SSI state supplemental payment"; and (b) an Exceptional Expense Supplement (SSI-E) for people in certain living arrangements with extra care needs (verify the current amount and certification with DHS through your county/tribal agency). (2) 🔴🔴 Cash is not health coverage: as an SSI recipient in Wisconsin you get Medicaid (Title 19) automatically — "A separate Medicaid application is not necessary" — but that is medical and separate from this cash; do not conflate them. 🔴 One honest boundary, so you are not misled the other way: because "You can receive the state SSI payment only if you qualify for a federal SSI payment," if federal immigration rules keep you from federal SSI, Wisconsin's state SSI payment (including CTS and SSI-E) does not reach you either. We did not find a California-CAPI-style Wisconsin state-funded cash program aimed at aged, blind, or disabled immigrants shut out of federal SSI by their immigration status. Verify your own situation with the SSA, and for CTS/SSI-E with your county/tribal income maintenance (IM) agency.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) gives time-limited monthly cash assistance and work supports to low-income families with children, to help them achieve economic security and stability. The federal government sends each state a block grant, and each state designs and runs its own TANF program under its own name (California calls it CalWORKs) with its own benefit amounts and rules. States set the monthly cash amount, add work-participation requirements, and set time limits within the federal 60-month (5-year) lifetime cap on federally funded assistance. Besides the monthly cash grant, TANF also funds services such as childcare, job training, and transportation.
이 주의 주요 차이점
🔴 TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) has a federal immigration layer — why you generally must be a "qualified alien," and how categories like refugees/asylees and qualified immigrants past the five-year point apply — all in this program's federal rule, not repeated here; rely on this program's federal rule. This row carries only Wisconsin's execution. Wisconsin's TANF program is Wisconsin Works (W-2), run by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) through local W-2 agencies (apply at dcf.wisconsin.gov/w2 or your local W-2 agency). 🔑 W-2 is unusual: it is a work-oriented program built around placements. A participant who cannot find unsubsidized work is placed by a Financial and Employment Planner (FEP) and paid a flat monthly grant for taking part in assigned work and activities: per DCF's W-2 manual, "A full-time CSJ participant receives a monthly payment of $653" and "The W-2 agency must issue a monthly payment of $608 to the W-2 T participant"; subsidized-employment (Trial Employment Match) placements are paid a wage by the employer instead. Payments are reduced by $5.00 for each hour a participant fails, without good cause, to take part. 🔴 Time limits (Wisconsin-specific — do not assume the federal number): each placement type has a 24-month limit, and Wisconsin has set a 48-month state lifetime limit for W-2 — shorter than the 60-month federal TANF lifetime limit; DCF's manual states "Wisconsin has established a 48-month lifetime limit for federal TANF cash assistance." ⚠️ Note: the Caretaker Supplement (CTS) for SSI parents is handled under SSI, not W-2 — do not confuse them. Rely on your local W-2 agency and DCF for amounts, work requirements, and exemptions.
Unemployment Insurance (UI)
Unemployment Insurance is temporary weekly cash paid to workers who lost their job through no fault of their own, to help you get by while you look for the next one. It is funded by taxes paid by employers (federal FUTA and state SUTA) — workers generally do not pay into it. It is a joint federal-state program: each state runs its own unemployment insurance program under shared federal rules, so eligibility, the weekly amount, and how many weeks you can receive vary by state. You apply in the state where you worked. To qualify you generally must be unemployed through no fault of your own, meet a work-and-wages threshold in a "base period," and be currently able to work, available to work right away, and actively looking for work. The first payment usually arrives two to three weeks after you file.
이 주의 주요 차이점
🔴 Unemployment Insurance (UI) is an earned, insurance-type benefit, not a means-tested public benefit — see this program's federal rule (why it is generally not subject to PRWORA's "qualified alien" / five-year-bar rules, and any federal-funding limits on very high earners, live there and are not repeated here). This row carries only the immigration points as Wisconsin applies them. Wisconsin UI is administered by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD). UI eligibility has two sides: financial (you must have earned enough wages in your "base period") and non-financial (you must be unemployed through no fault of your own, be able and available to work, and actively look for work). 🔑 Work authorization is key: to collect UI you generally must have been authorized to work in the U.S. when you earned those base-period wages, and you must now be able, available, and authorized to work. So this is an earned route: it does not look at how low your income is, but it does require work authorization both then and now. State rules differ — rely on the state where you worked (here, Wisconsin's DWD).
Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher
The Housing Choice Voucher — commonly called "Section 8" — is federal rental assistance that helps very-low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities rent decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. The funds come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the program is run locally by public housing agencies (PHAs), usually state or local government entities. You find your own rental unit that meets program housing-quality standards; after the PHA approves the unit and tenancy, it pays the rent subsidy directly to the landlord. If the rent is at or below the local "payment standard," you generally pay about 30 percent of your adjusted monthly income toward rent, and the subsidy covers the rest. It is the nation's largest rental-assistance program, helping about 2.3 million families. Because funding is limited, many areas keep a waiting list.
이 주의 주요 차이점
🔴 There is no separate Wisconsin state immigrant rule for Section 8, because there is no statewide Wisconsin Section 8 — the local public housing authorities (PHAs) all apply HUD's federal noncitizen rules. Those federal rules (at least one household member must have an eligible immigration status, and "mixed" families can receive prorated assistance rather than being turned away entirely) live on this program's shared federal page and are not repeated here. As HUD states for Wisconsin, a Public Housing Authority determines Housing Choice Voucher eligibility "based on the total annual gross income and family size, U.S. citizenship and specified categories of non-citizens who have eligible immigration status," and to apply you "contact your local Public Housing Authority." 🌟 We did not find a currently operating Wisconsin state-level rental-voucher program with a broader-than-federal immigrant rule to add here: the state agency WHEDA administers Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties, not a state-funded voucher with a broader immigrant rule. This row therefore claims no state expansion beyond the federal rule. Rely on your local PHA for how status is verified.
LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program)
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps low-income households pay their home energy costs — mainly heating (winter) and cooling (summer) bills, plus energy-crisis aid (for example, when you face a shutoff or need reconnection), light home weatherization, and minor heating-equipment repair or replacement. It is a federally funded block grant managed by the Office of Community Services within HHS (HHS/ACF/OCS), and then run by each state, territory, and tribe, which set their own eligibility rules and application process. 🔴 LIHEAP does not send cash directly to individuals and never charges a fee; you apply through your state's or tribe's energy-assistance agency. The federal income ceiling is 150% of the poverty level, or 60% of state median income if that is higher; many states also grant "categorical eligibility" to households that receive TANF, SSI, SNAP, or needs-tested veterans' benefits.
이 주의 주요 차이점
🔴🔴 Safety-critical, and stated carefully: unlike some states' energy programs, Wisconsin's Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) does apply a citizenship / immigration-status test. WHEAP is Wisconsin's LIHEAP-funded heating, electric, and crisis energy help, administered by the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) and delivered through local WHEAP agencies. 🔴 We grounded this against Wisconsin's official PY26 WHEAP Manual, which states: "An eligible case head must have a validated SSN and be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen. If the case head is an ineligible non-citizen, the application will deny." So there is a real status gate on the person who applies. Because status is safety-critical, guard against errors in both directions: (1) Do not assume that anyone regardless of status can get it — the applicant (the "case head") must be a U.S. citizen or an "eligible non-citizen" with a validated Social Security number, and an ineligible non-citizen cannot be the case head. The "eligible non-citizen" categories are the familiar federal qualified ones: lawful permanent residents, refugees, people granted asylum, people paroled into the U.S., those with deportation/removal withheld, conditional entrants, Cuban/Haitian entrants, certain battered non-citizens and their children/parents, Amerasians, and Compact of Free Association (COFA) citizens. (2) Do not be scared off — having one member without eligible status does not automatically bar the whole household: the manual says "If there is an eligible non-citizen or U.S. citizen of any age in the household, the worker must encourage that person to apply (become the case head)," so a household can still be served through a qualifying member — even a citizen or eligible-non-citizen child who has a Social Security number. Ineligible non-citizen members are still counted for household size and income, but their presence does not by itself disqualify a household that has an eligible case head. 🔴 In practice: a mixed-status family (for example, an undocumented parent with a U.S.-citizen child) can often still receive WHEAP help if an eligible member — even the child — is the case head. Applying does not require every household member to have status, but the applicant does. Verify your own household's situation with your local WHEAP agency (1-866-432-8947); the federal "qualified alien" framework is on the shared program page and is not repeated here.
이 페이지에는 현재까지 수록된 복지 항목만 나열되어 있으며, 이 주에 이 항목들만 있다는 의미는 아닙니다.