Medicare-Medicaid Pay-Down of Assets
State law and regulations impose income and asset limits on persons applying for Medicaid.
In order to be eligible for Medicaid, an individual must have monthly income less than $2,901 and have countable resources equal to or less than the applicable resource limit of $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a married couple residing in the same facility. If only one spouse is applying, the non-applicant spouse may retain $157,920 in assets.
Transfers of assets for less than fair market value are presumed to have been done to qualify for Medicaid, unless the applicant provides convincing evidence that the transfer was done exclusively for another purpose. If it is determine that resources were transferred to qualify for Medicaid, the person who needs long-term care will not be eligible for payment of facility care or waiver services for a specified period. Medicaid uses the difference between the value of the transferred item and what the person received in return to determine how long the person will not be eligible for payment.