Note: There was no blog post last week (December 30.) Happy 2017!
The Medicaid program helps pay for long term care (nursing home, assisted living, or in-home care) for many seniors. The Medicaid rules allow the patient and the patient’s spouse to keep certain amounts of their savings and certain amounts from their monthly income. As of January 2017, Ohio’s Medicaid program allows the following amounts:
Savings patient can keep: $2,000
Savings spouse at home can keep: $23,844 – $119,220
Monthly income patient can keep: $50
Monthly income allowance for spouse: $2,003 – $2,981
Monthly housing allowance for spouse at home: $601
Monthly utility allowance for spouse at home: $513
What Medicaid pays nursing homes each month: $6,570
Limit on equity in home: $552,000
Monthly gross income above $2,205 triggers the need for a Qualified Income Trust (aka Miller Trust)
Note: Because this information is an update of the Medicaid “financial standards,” it also appears on my website’s Medicaid page.