Medicaid Eligibility and Long-Term Care Planning for Your Spouse
Long-term care planning for a spouse can be extremely difficult both intellectually and emotionally. If you have a spouse who currently needs to become Medicaid-eligible for purposes of long-term care, or is likely to soon need long-term care at a nursing home, you may be scrambling to determine the requirements for Medicaid eligibility. It is important to know up front that Medicare will not cover your spouse’s long-term stay in a nursing home — this is not among the benefits provided by Medicare. Accordingly, you will most likely want to find out about ways to protect some of the assets you share with your spouse while also ensuring that Medicaid will be able to cover their care.
The following are some key details about planning for a spouse’s Medicaid eligibility and long-term care.
Will We Need to Spend Down Our Savings for Medicaid Eligibility?
In New Jersey, when one spouse within a married couple needs long-term care that can be covered by Medicaid and the other spouse does not, it is possible for the non-applicant spouse to keep a relatively high asset limit.
As for assets, the applicant spouse can only have up to $2,000 in assets, but the non-applicant spouse can have countable assets valued at up to $157,920 in 2025 (that number will likely increase in subsequent years). The non-applicant spouse’s income will not be included in determining Medicaid eligibility, but the applicant spouse can only have a monthly income of up to $2,901 to qualify for Medicaid coverage. If your spouse was the primary earner and now must have a limited income, you may be eligible to receive some of your spouse’s income toward your own based on New Jersey’s Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance.
Accordingly, you may not need to spend down at all, and you may be able to retain all of your countable assets with the non-applicant limit, along with non-countable assets like your family home (all assets are considered to be marital property and are thus jointly owned by the spouses).
Options to Spend Down While Still Protecting Certain Assets
If you and your spouse own countable assets that will exceed the set limits, there may be options for “spending down” without having to spend down on nursing home care.
A Miller Trust (also known as a Qualified Income Trust or QIT) may be an option for your spouse if they receive an income well above the limit. You may also be able to spend down countable assets on non-countable assets. A lawyer can discuss the specifics of your situation with you today and can clarify options that may be available to you.
Contact a New Jersey Estate Planning Attorney for Assistance with Medicaid Planning
Will your spouse soon require long-term care in a nursing home, or does your spouse currently need to be moved to a nursing home for long-term care? We know that this is an extremely difficult time, and it can be devastating to realize the cost of nursing home care at an acceptable facility. While engaging in Medicaid planning and asset protection with an estate planning lawyer well in advance of needing long-term care has many benefits, you can still discuss options for Medicaid eligibility once it becomes necessary.
One of the experienced Summit estate planning attorneys at Dempsey, Dempsey & Sheehan can speak with you today about your spouse’s needs, your income and assets, and options for “spending down” while protecting some assets and ensuring that your spouse becomes eligible for Medicaid. Contact us today to find out more about how we can assist you.
Source:
nj.gov/humanservices/dmahs/clients/medicaid/
