My Spouse Has to Go Into a Nursing Home - How Much Can I Keep?

Most habitancy know that in order to qualify for Medicaid coverage of a long-term stay in a nursing home, the nursing home resident cannot own more than ,000 in cash or other "countable" assets. But if you're married, and one spouse is going into a nursing home and the other is remaining "in the community" (i.e., chronic to reside at home), how much can the so-called "Community Spouse" retain? That estimate is thought about by a composition of both federal and state Medicaid laws. (Note that for these purposes it doesn't matter whether assets are titled in the sole name of the nursing home spouse, the society Spouse, or jointly in both names.)

The basic rule is that the society Spouse can maintain 50% of all of the countable assets of both spouses, based on what they own when the other spouse first enters the nursing home for a continuous period of at least 30 days.

Nursing Homes

Most of the states only permit the at-home spouse to protect one-half of the total estimate of the couple's assets, up to 9,560, but with a minimum of ,912. So if the couple's total assets are under ,912, the society Spouse can maintain it all; if their total assets are in the middle of ,912 and twice that estimate (i.e., ,824), the society Spouse retains ,912; if in the middle of ,824 and 9,120, the society Spouse retains half; and if over 9,120, the society Spouse is puny to protecting 9,560.
Here are some supplementary examples:

Examples:

1. Assume a combine has total assets of ,000. Half of that is ,000, which is less than the "floor" amount, so the at-home spouse can protect ,912; the balance must be "spent down" before the nursing home spouse can qualify for Medicaid.

2. If the couple's assets total 0,000, then the society Spouse can protect the full 50% amount: ,000.

3. If the couple's assets total 0,000, the society Spouse's protected estimate is puny to 9,560.

States following the above rule are known as "50% states." However, the most lenient states ("100% states") permit the at-home spouse to maintain 100% of the couple's combined assets, but never more than 9,560. So if the couple's total assets are, say 0,000, the society Spouse can protect not just 50% (,000) but 9,560. (The 9,560 figure changes annually, to keep up with inflation; this is the 2009 amount.)

In all states, once the society Spouse's share is set aside, the nursing home spouse can keep up to ,000 in cash, but the balance of the couple's assets must be eliminated somehow before the nursing home spouse can qualify for Medicaid.

So what do you do with the "excess" assets over the limits discussed above? The state Medicaid administration agency will tell you that you must "spend down" the excess assets, and if it's a small amount, that's of course the simplest way to qualify.

Another alternative is for the combine to naturally give away the excess, but that will cause a period of disqualification from Medicaid eligibility for the nursing home spouse.

The combine could change some or all of the excess from "countable" to "non-countable," e.g., buying a new car, improving the house, purchasing a Medicaid annuity, etc.

Finally, many of these options are quite technical and want the skills and advice of an experienced elder law attorney. Unless you're an attorney "in the trenches" on a daily basis, it's easy to miss a up-to-date state Regulation or agency Letter and make a mistake that will wind up costing you ,000s!

My Spouse Has to Go Into a Nursing Home - How Much Can I Keep?