Black Health

Texas Medicaid

Texas Medicaid

No Medicaid expansion 12-month postpartum

Texas Medicaid covers pregnant women up to 198% of the federal poverty line — roughly $51,120 annual income for a family of three in 2025. The state has not adopted Medicaid expansion. Apply at https://yourtexasbenefits.hhs.texas.gov/ or call 1-800-252-8263.

On maternal health specifically: Texas Medicaid has extended postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months (effective 2024-03-01), and does not cover doula services through Medicaid.

Texas has the lowest parent-income Medicaid cap in the country: 15% of the federal poverty line — roughly $3,900 annual income for a family of three. Texas finally extended postpartum coverage to 12 months in March 2024 under HB 12 (2023), after CMS repeatedly denied earlier waiver requests. An estimated 1.5 million Texans remain in the coverage gap.

Key facts at a glance

  • Pregnant women eligible up to 198% FPL ($51,120 for a family of three in 2025).
  • Children 0-5 eligible up to 203% FPL ($52,410 for a family of three).
  • Parents eligible up to 15% FPL only — no expansion adult category.
  • Postpartum Medicaid extended to 12 months (effective 2024-03-01).

For Black families

Roughly 865,000 Black residents are enrolled in Texas Medicaid, per the most recent CMS T-MSIS analytic file. The number understates true eligibility: every state has Black eligibles who aren't currently enrolled, usually because of the administrative-churn rates that rose sharply during the 2023 unwinding.

Texas has the lowest parent-income Medicaid cap in the country: 15% of the federal poverty line — roughly $3,900 annual income for a family of three. Texas finally extended postpartum coverage to 12 months in March 2024 under HB 12 (2023), after CMS repeatedly denied earlier waiver requests. An estimated 1.5 million Texans remain in the coverage gap.

For enrollment help: look for your state's Navigator program (federally funded under the ACA), a Federally Qualified Health Center in your county (every FQHC has certified application counselors on staff), or one of the named community organizations below. Our FQHC directory filters to this state at /clinics/tx/.

Data sources

Data refreshed: