HFS Medical Benefits

Are you a senior or person with disability who needs healthcare? If you are, then Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) Medical Benefits may be a program for you. This program is sometimes called AABD medical benefits.

HFS Medical Benefits is a comprehensive healthcare program that covers doctor visits, prescription drugs, hospital care, emergency room coverage, long term care, durable medical equipment and a variety of other healthcare services.

You may qualify if you meet the following criteria.

• You are age 65 or older, or blind or have a permanent disability, AND
• You live in Illinois, AND
• Your income and assets are below the program’s income and asset limits, AND
• You are a U.S. citizen or you are an eligible qualified immigrant

To apply, you can download an application here and send it to an Illinois Department of Human Services Family Community Resource Center (FCRC) or visit the office directly.

To find your local FCRC, visit http://www2.dhs.state.il.us/geosource/ or call 1-800-842-1461. If you use a TTY, call 1-800-447-6404. The call is free.

You may qualify if your monthly income for your family is equal to or less than the amounts in the table below for your family size. Count yourself, your spouse and your minor children to find your family size:

Asset Limits

If you are single, you may qualify if your countable assets are $2,000 or less. If you are married, your assets combined with your spouse’s assets must be equal to or less than $3,000.

The items listed below are exempt. That means we do not count them when deciding the value of your assets.

• Your home
• Your personal belongings and household goods of reasonable value
• Certain resources up to a limit of $6,000 that you use to earn income.
• One automobile if the fair market value is no more than $4,500 or if someone in your family needs it to get to work or uses it to get regular medical treatment
• Life insurance policies with a total face value of $1,500 or less and all term life insurance policies
• Certain funds set aside for burial expenses
• Certain other assets that occur infrequently

People who are not U.S. citizens but who fit into one of the following groups are qualified immigrants and may qualify for HFS medical benefits as soon as they enter the U.S.

• A U.S. veteran honorably discharged or a person on active duty and the spouse and unmarried children of such a person
• Refugees
• Asylees
• Persons for whom deportation has been withheld
• Persons granted conditional entry to the U.S.
• Nationals of Cuba or Haiti
• Victims of human trafficking
• Amerasians from Vietnam
• Certain members of Hmong or Highland Laotian tribes
• American Indians born in Canada
• Certain victims of domestic violence

The following groups of qualified immigrants may receive HFS Medical Benefits after they have resided in the U.S. legally for five years.

• Persons lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Naturalization Act
• Aliens granted parole for at least one year