How does Medicaid treat and divide a married couple assets?
The division of assets is the name commonly used for the Spousal Impoverishment provisions of the Medicare Catastrophic Act of 1988. It applies only to couples. The intent of the law was to change the eligibility requirements for Medicaid where one spouse needs nursing home care while the other spouse remains in the community (i.e., at home). The law, in effect, recognizes that it makes very little sense to impoverish both spouses when only one needs to qualify for Medicaid assistance for nursing home care. As a result of this recognition, the division of assets was created. Basically, in a division of assets, the couple gathers all their countable assets together in a review. Exempt assets are not counted. The countable assets are then divided in two, with the at home or “community spouse” allowed to keep one half of all countable assets to a maximum of approx. $101,640. The other half of countable assets must be “spent down” until $2,000 remains. The amount of the countable assets wh
