“Reforming Long-Term Care Policy,” by Janet Weiner, Penn/LDI
“Medicaid pays for custodial or long-term care only for people who meet strict means-tested eligibility. Most older adults not eligible for Medicaid must pay for long-term care themselves (out-of-pocket or through long-term care insurance) or rely on family and friends to fill the gaps. … All states have income limits for Medicaid, which in 2025 is typically $2,900 per month for a single adult 65 or older. Almost all states also have asset limits, typically using $2,000 as a threshold. People with assets above this limit must “spend down” before they can be eligible for Medicaid.”
LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:
I don’t know which is worse—either this author knows this information is misleading and says it anyway or she doesn’t know and says it out of ignorance. The truth is income does not interfere with Medicaid LTC eligibility because private health expenses are deducted from income before a low income standard is applied. Most aged people who need LTC do have high private health expenses so they qualify even with very high starting incomes. Likewise assets don’t block eligibility, because most large assets seniors own are exempt, such as home equity, tax-favored retirement savings, a car and more. Any countable assets that remain are easily removed by using them to purchase any of a long list of exempt resources. The reason people who should know better misrepresent Medicaid eligibility in this way is that they are ideologically biased in favor of a big new government LTC entitlement. Claiming Medicaid impoverishes middle class and affluent people when it doesn’t fits their predisposition.