Choices for Care Resource Limits

If you have too much property or other resources to qualify for long-term Medicaid, you should talk to a lawyer familiar with Medicaid law.

Asset management issues are complicated. The information below is intended to help you have a general understanding, but you should have expert help with any decisions you make about your resources.

The Choices for Care (CFC) resources limit is $2,000 for a single person who lives in a facility and $5,000 for two people who reside in a long-term care facility. The resource limit is $5,000 if you own a home and continue to live in it. These limits only apply to those resources that are "countable."

Countable resources include cash, savings, bonds, CDs, stocks, mutual funds, bank accounts, and non-home real property such as a separate parcel of land or a camp.

Other resources such as your home, automobile and burial funds are usually exempt and are not considered available by CFC to pay for your care.

Too Many Resources?

You do not have to use your excess resources for your care unless you want past care covered during the 3 months before the month you apply.

Otherwise, you can spend your resources above the $2,000/$5,000 limit on bills, debts, goods or services or on resources that are not counted such as a home, a car or burial expenses. It may also be possible to give away excess resources in very limited circumstances.

What Resources Don’t Count?

Your home is fully excluded if its equity value is less than $713,000.

You and your spouse can keep up to $10,000 each in separate burial funds.

You can keep up to $30,000 to pay for additional care or to make modifications to your home to allow you to stay there. This is called an "independent living contract," which CFC requires you to sign in order to keep that money.

Your spouse can keep a lot more resources (see below).

Whether resources are considered available to pay for your care is complicated. Many resources are excluded.

Also, resources can be spent down or converted to resources that don’t count.

If you have too many resources to qualify for long-term Medicaid, you should talk to a lawyer familiar with Medicaid law.

Spouse’s Resources

Your spouse can keep all resources that are not typically counted such as the home, a car, household goods, or personal effects.

Your spouse can also keep up to $154,140 in additional resources.

Your spouse can keep more than $154,140 if:

there are "exceptional circumstances resulting in significant financial duress" OR
your spouse’s resources do not raise his or her monthly income up to the standard allocation ($2,829).

What if my spouse has more resources than CFC allows?

You will not be eligible for Medicaid if your spouse has more resources than CFC allows.

However, if your spouse refuses to use resources above the $154,140 spousal allocation for your long-term care, you may still qualify for Medicaid if:

you assign support rights to Medicaid,
you are physically or mentally unable to make the assignment OR
denial of Medicaid would place an undue hardship on you.

Resources acquired by your spouse after you become eligible for long-term care are not considered.

The figures on this page have been updated for 2024.