2020 New Medicaid Rules
If you have been looking for new information about Medicaid, you may be wondering what exactly has changed. Here are the 2020 new Medicaid rules you should be aware of.
2020 New Medicaid Rules | When is a person over age 65 eligible to receive Medicaid?
Medicaid is a means-tested, needs-based program with limitations on income and resources. Anyone who meets the income and resource limitations is eligible to receive Medicaid.
The current asset and income levels that allow Medicaid eligibility?
INCOME: Income is broadly interpreted, and includes earned and unearned income and most government benefits. The current monthly income limit for a family of one seeking community based Medicaid (i.e., care in the home) is $875. The current monthly income limit for a spouse of an applicant seeking coverage for nursing home care is $3,216.
RESOURCES: The resource or asset limit for a family of one seeking community based Medicaid (i.e., care in the home) is $15,750 plus $1,500 in a separate burial account. The spouse of an applicant seeking coverage for nursing home care is allowed between $74,820 and $128,640 in resources, plus $1,500 in a burial account. Income and resource levels are subject to yearly adjustments.
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2020 New Medicaid Rules | What resources are not counted when determining Medicaid eligibility?
Exempt from inclusion in the Medicaid eligibility resource limit are $878,000 equity in your family residence; irrevocable pre-paid burial expenses; personal and household property; one automobile; and any life insurance policies with a face value of less than $1,500.
The family residence must be the primary residence of the applicant, and/or his or her spouse or minor or disabled child. It may be a one, two, or three family house, and also includes any attached property. In order to qualify as the family residence (referred to by Medicaid as “homestead”), the home must be necessary and appropriate to the applicant. Therefore, if an individual with no spouse and/or no minor disabled child enters a nursing home and is not medically expected to return home, he or she would no longer have an exempt homestead due to the fact that the home would no longer be “necessary or appropriate” for that individual. It would then be treated as an available resource for Medicaid eligibility purposes.
If you have any questions about the 2020 new Medicaid rules, please call our Buffalo Medicaid lawyers today to learn what you need to be up-to-date on.
