What income is available to a spouse that is not in need of MassHealth for long-term care benefits?
It is not an uncommon event that the primary earner (recipient of a pension and Social Security) of the household is also the spouse in need of long-term care benefits from MassHealth. Typically, this person’s income is used to offset the costs of nursing home care. However, this would often leave the spouse remaining in the community with little income to survive. MassHealth allows income of a member to be applied to the community spouse, instead of towards the cost of care, so that the community spouse has a minimum of $1,750 and a maximum of $2,739.
Related Questions
- Can I be paid both County leave (sick, annual or other) and also receive long-term Income Protection benefits?
- How much of a couples income can be retained by the spouse who does not receive ALTCS/Medicaid benefits?
- When a spouse doesn report income to the IRS, is the innocent spouse liable for the taxes?
