Under the Medicaid spousal impoverishment program, a certain amount of a couple’s combined assets are protected for the spouse still living in the community while the other transitions to nursing home care. Strom Center Executive Director Carol McCrery explains:
“Where one person really needs that extra help the nursing home can supply so then the community spouse can stay healthy and attend to their needs. The program allows for the person who is in the community to have a little over $2,700 in income, but $109,000 in assets. The family home and the car are exempt and the person in the nursing home would have all of their needs met. The money that would be over the $2,700 income for the couple would go to the nursing home and then it would be supplemented by Medicaid. The facility they went into would have to accept Medicaid. It is an excellent way for both persons to stay healthy.”
McCrery reports that the person living in the nursing home is also allowed up to $2,000 in assets to draw from when needed. For more information on the spousal impoverishment program, contact Strom Center at 309-734-5677.
