Medicaid's Protections for Spouses

Medicaid can provide seniors with financial assistance for home care services. However, since the federal government and the individual states run Medicaid jointly, benefits coverage is different in each state.

The prospect of long-term care often brings with it many financial concerns. As we experience our declining health or that of an aging family member, we begin to realize that long-term care needs at home or in a facility could...

Medicaid 101

Each fall, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) renews the federal guidelines that seek to protect individuals whose spouses are applying for or receiving Medicaid long-term care benefits.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the 2023 federal guidelines for how much money the spouses of institutionalized Medicaid recipients may keep, as well as related Medicaid figures.

If one spouse requires care in a skilled nursing facility and the other remains at home, the spouse at home might face significant financial hardships.

When a married couple applies for Medicaid, the agency must analyze their income and assets as of a particular "snapshot' date to determine eligibility. This can have a major impact on a couple’s financial future.

Medicaid 101

When one spouse is in a nursing home and applying for Medicaid, planning has to take into account the possibility that the spouse who is not in the nursing home (called the "community spouse") may pass away first.

Medicaid 101

When one member of a couple moves to a nursing home, we expect that spouse will be the first to die, but this isn’t always the case. What happens if a Medicaid recipient's spouse dies first?...

Medicaid 101

Medicaid law provides protection for spouses of Medicaid applicants to make sure they have the minimum support needed to continue to live in the community while their loved one receives long-term care services.

Medicaid 101