Is There a Medicaid Asset Limit?

When you envision your senior years, you may think about your active retirement years when you will enjoy leisure activities and quality time with your family. This is certainly something to look forward to, but you should also be practical about the challenges that you may face during your twilight years.

A high percentage of seniors become unable to handle all of their own activities of daily living at some point in time. This figure is 70 percent according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The need for future long-term care is not a remote possibility; it is a likelihood.

Medicare does not pay for long-term custodial care, and the cost of care is very high. Medicaid will pay for custodial care. As a result, many seniors who were never financially needy ultimately rely on Medicaid to pay for living assistance.

Medicaid Asset Limit

Medicaid is a program that is available to people who can demonstrate financial need. There are parameters in place that are intended to measure this need. In most states, the upper asset limit for an individual is just $2000.

In spite of this very low limit, most of the long-term care that is received by seniors is paid for by the Medicaid program.

Everything that you own does not count when Medicaid is determining your eligibility for coverage. Your home is not considered to be a countable asset, but there is an upper equity limit. The minimum limit that a state can allow in 2014 is $543,000. The maximum allowable home equity limit is $814,000 in 2014. We practice law in the state of Iowa. The limit in our state is $543,000.

In addition to your home, the vehicle that you use for transportation would not be looked upon as a countable asset by Medicaid evaluators. If you have a wedding ring, an engagement ring, and heirloom jewelry, these items would not be countable either.

Under Medicaid rules you can retain possession of a life insurance policy that is valued at no more than $1500. You could have the same amount of money set aside for cremation or burial expenses.

Your household items and personal effects would not be countable assets for Medicaid purposes.

Download Our Medicaid Planning Report

There is a great deal of information to absorb when you decide that you would like to plan ahead with future Medicaid eligibility in mind. As you may imagine, the rules are complex, and they can be confusing.

To demystify things we have prepared a special report that takes an in-depth look at Medicaid planning. This report is being offered to our readers free of charge, and you can obtain your copy through this website.

To access the download, click this link and follow the simple instructions: Free Medicaid Planning Report.