United States · https://decisionscalc.com/tools/medicaid-spend-down-calculator/
Medicaid spend-down calculator
Your parent needs a nursing home. How long will their savings pay for it before Medicaid does? Enter their savings, income and state: we apply the 2026 federal standards and your state’s own asset limit, penalty divisor and personal needs allowance, each marked as an official figure, one to check, or one to enter yourself.
Leave blank to use the figures below. Type your own if your caseworker gives you a different one.
Savings pay for care for
| Savings to spend first | $148,000 |
|---|---|
| Kept by the spouse at home | $0 |
| Spouse’s income allowance a month | $0 |
| Look-back penalty | 0 months |
| On Medicaid, your parent pays a month | $2,040 |
| Family pays, first 3 years | $0 |
| Medicaid pays, first 3 years | $172,135 |
Planning it properly? The Care Costs Planner spreadsheet runs these rules for 15 years with a gifts log and a split among brothers and sisters.
How it works
Savings above your state’s asset limit, less what a spouse at home keeps, pay for care first, together with your parent’s income. When they can no longer cover a month, your parent qualifies. Gifts in the look-back delay Medicaid by the penalty months; someone has to pay for care during them. On Medicaid your parent’s income still goes to the nursing home, except the personal needs allowance, the spouse’s allowance and health premiums. Assisted living and home care are paid by Medicaid only through a waiver, often with a waiting list.
Nursing-home Medicaid figures by state, 2026
Asset limit for one person, penalty divisor (the state’s average private-pay nursing home cost), personal needs allowance and home equity limit. * = seen on the state’s official site only through a search: check it. — = not found: ask your state.
| State | Asset limit | Penalty divisor | Personal needs | Home equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $2,000* | — | — | — |
| Alaska | $2,000 | — | $200.00 | $752,000 |
| Arizona | $2,000* | $8,666.72* | $149.10* | — |
| Arkansas | $2,000 | $9,110.00 | $40.00 | $752,000 |
| California | $130,000* | $14,440.00* | — | — |
| Colorado | $2,000* | $10,814.00 | $110.36 | $1,130,000 |
| Connecticut | $1,600 | — | $75.00 | $1,130,000 |
| Delaware | $2,000 | — | $75.00 | — |
| District of Columbia | $4,000 | — | $109.00* | — |
| Florida | $2,000 | $10,645.00 | $160.00 | $752,000 |
| Georgia | $2,000 | $11,122.00 | $70.00 | $752,000 |
| Hawaii | $2,000* | — | $50.00* | — |
| Idaho | $2,000 | — | — | — |
| Illinois | — | — | — | — |
| Indiana | — | — | — | — |
| Iowa | — | — | — | — |
| Kansas | — | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | $2,000 | — | $60.00 | $752,000 |
| Louisiana | $2,000* | $7,200.00* | — | $752,000* |
| Maine | $2,000 | $13,339.00 | $40.00 | — |
| Maryland | $2,500 | $12,501.00 | $106.00 | $752,000 |
| Massachusetts | $2,000 | $469.00 a day | $72.80 | $1,130,000 |
| Michigan | $9,950 | $12,216.00 | $60.00 | $752,000 |
| Minnesota | $3,000* | $11,869.00 | $132.00 | $752,000 |
| Mississippi | $4,000* | — | $44.00* | $752,000* |
| Missouri | — | — | — | — |
| Montana | $2,000 | $9,315.71 | $50.00* | — |
| Nebraska | $4,000* | — | $75.00* | — |
| Nevada | $2,000* | $9,949.26* | $154.00 | — |
| New Hampshire | — | $12,892.60* | $93.00* | $752,000 |
| New Jersey | — | $420.67 a day | $50.00* | — |
| New Mexico | $2,000* | — | $100.00* | — |
| New York | $33,038 | $15,282.00 | $50.00 | $1,130,000 |
| North Carolina | $2,000 | $11,904.00 | $70.00 | — |
| North Dakota | $3,000 | — | $118.00 | $752,000 |
| Ohio | — | $7,787.00 | — | $752,000 |
| Oklahoma | — | — | — | — |
| Oregon | — | — | — | $752,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $8,000 | $12,811.50 | $60.00 | $752,000 |
| Rhode Island | $4,000 | $12,106.00 | $75.00 | $752,000* |
| South Carolina | — | — | — | — |
| South Dakota | $2,000 | — | $100.00 | — |
| Tennessee | — | — | — | — |
| Texas | $2,000 | $262.37 a day | $75.00 | $752,000 |
| Utah | — | — | — | — |
| Vermont | — | — | — | — |
| Virginia | $2,000 | $7,324.00 | $40.00 | $752,000 |
| Washington | $2,000 | $14,059.00 | $108.74 | $1,130,000 |
| West Virginia | — | — | — | — |
| Wisconsin | — | $352.06 a day* | $55.00* | $752,000* |
| Wyoming | — | — | — | — |
Frequently asked questions
What is the Medicaid spend-down?
Nursing-home Medicaid only pays once your countable assets are at or below your state’s limit, usually $2,000 for one person. Savings above it are spent on care first (the “spend-down”). The home, one car, personal belongings and a burial fund are not counted. A spouse who stays at home keeps part of the couple’s savings: in 2026 between $32,532 and $162,660.
How is the look-back penalty worked out?
Gifts and sales below value in the 60 months before applying (30 months in California, phased in from January 2026) cause a penalty: the total given away divided by your state’s penalty divisor, its average monthly private-pay nursing home cost. The result is months without Medicaid, starting when your parent would otherwise qualify. Part months are not rounded down.
How much of my parent’s income goes to the nursing home on Medicaid?
Almost all of it. Your parent keeps a personal needs allowance (from $30 to $200 a month depending on the state), pays health insurance premiums, and can give an income allowance to a spouse at home ($2,705 to $4,066.50 a month in 2026, less the spouse’s own income). The rest is paid to the nursing home; Medicaid pays the difference.
Does Medicare pay for a nursing home?
Not for long-term care. Medicare pays for up to 100 days of skilled nursing after a 3-day hospital stay: days 1 to 20 in full, days 21 to 100 at $217 a day in 2026. After that, or for custodial care, it pays nothing.
Why does my state say “enter yours”?
We used only figures we could read on each state’s own Medicaid pages (marked Official) or see on its official site through a search (marked * : check it). 15 states have an official asset limit and divisor; for the others, type your state’s figure from its Medicaid office and the calculator uses it.
Is this legal advice?
No. It shows how the published rules apply to the figures you enter. It does not suggest ways to give assets away or qualify sooner, and it does not cover trusts, annuities, VA benefits or estate recovery. Confirm your parent’s case with the state Medicaid office or an elder law attorney.
Related
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| Metric | Scenario A | Scenario B | Difference |
|---|
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