Mississippi grants
& benefits: Medicaid limits, homestead relief and HELP tuition.

KFF's October 16, 2026 tracker counts 10 states still outside the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, and Mississippi is on that list. Medicaid.gov lists no adult expansion group for the state, so low income alone does not qualify a working-age adult.

Children get the widest door. Medicaid.gov puts the limits at 194% of the federal poverty level for babies under 1, 143% for ages 1 to 5 and 133% for ages 6 to 18, with separate CHIP coverage up to 209%. Pregnancy coverage also reaches 194%.

Parents and caretaker relatives face one of the lowest limits on the federal table: 19% of the poverty level, which Mississippi sets as a dollar amount by household size. People who are 65 or older, blind or disabled are reviewed under separate rules that the table does not show.

Apply on Access MS, or call the Division of Medicaid at 1-800-421-2408 to ask for a paper application by mail. The same member line answers questions about coverage, ID cards and finding a provider who accepts Mississippi Medicaid.

Mississippi's homestead exemption cuts property tax on the home you own and live in on January 1. The Department of Revenue sorts applicants into three tiers. Owners under 65 without a qualifying disability get the regular tier, a credit of up to $300 against the tax bill.

At 65, or once totally disabled, you move to the second tier: no tax on the first $7,500 of assessed value. After the first year the exemption can grow to cover most later increases in value. You must reapply in the filing period after you turn 65 to get it.

The third tier removes property tax entirely. It covers honorably discharged veterans with a total service-connected disability, honorably discharged veterans 90 or older, and certain unremarried surviving spouses, including spouses of service members who died on active duty.

Proof of total disability can be a Social Security disability finding, a qualified retirement plan's disability finding, or letters from two physicians. Falling behind on Mississippi income tax or vehicle tags can cost you the exemption, and you may have to repay it.

Social Security, Railroad Retirement and VA payments are left out of Mississippi income tax, even the share the IRS taxes. Pensions, annuities and other retirement income are generally exempt too, as long as the plan's requirements were met. Early distributions do not count and may be taxed.

Wages and other taxable income face one flat rate on amounts above $10,000. The Department of Revenue lists that rate at 4.4% for 2025, 4% for 2026 and 3.75% for 2027.

Personal exemptions trim the bill further. A single filer gets $6,000 and a married couple filing jointly gets $12,000. Each taxpayer or spouse over 65, and each one who is blind, adds $1,500, as does each dependent.

Mississippi Veterans Affairs runs nursing homes in Collins, Jackson, Kosciusko and Oxford, which together serve about 600 veterans. A fifth, the Mississippi Veterans Home at Tradition in Biloxi, is the agency's newest and has its own residency application.

A veteran must have served on active duty and not been discharged under dishonorable conditions, shown with a DD 214. You must be or have been a Mississippi resident, though a nonresident may be admitted when no resident is waiting for a bed.

A physician's exam within 30 days of admission must show no communicable disease and no care needs the home is not staffed to provide. The agency's site also takes DD 214 requests online and lists its veterans cemeteries and benefits specialists.

The Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid runs three main undergraduate grants, and one form, the Mississippi Aid Application (MAAPP), puts you in line for all of them. A new application is needed each year, and HELP and MTAG also rely on your FAFSA.

HELP pays full tuition at a public college for up to four years. You need one year of state residency, a 2.5 high school GPA, an ACT of 20 or higher and Pell Grant eligibility, and must qualify within a year of high school graduation. It takes applications October 1 to March 31.

MTAG is for students who get less than the maximum Pell Grant. It pays up to $500 a year to freshmen and sophomores and up to $1,000 to juniors and seniors, with a 2.5 GPA and an ACT of 15. MESG pays up to $2,500 a year with a 3.5 GPA and an ACT of 29 or higher.

Only one state grant can be paid in a term. If you qualify for more than one, the office awards the larger, and no student receives more than eight semesters of undergraduate state grant aid.

LIHEAP starts with a pre-application on Access MS, where you mark Community Services. Your local community action agency then sends an appointment by mail or email, and you finish the full application in person.

Households with someone elderly, disabled or a child 5 or under should get an appointment within 30 business days, and others within 45 days. Household income can be no higher than 60% of the state median for your household size. If you are approved, the agency pays the energy company directly.

Food stamps are also an MDHS program, and you can apply on the same Access MS portal.

Income limits, the savings test and deposit dates are covered in our Mississippi food stamps guide.