Medicaid
How Medicaid works for people 65 and older: qualifying for long-term care, protecting a spouse and a home, and what Medicaid will and will not pay for.
Medicaid is the largest payer of nursing home care in the United States, and its rules for older applicants are strict. These guides explain the five-year look-back on gifts and transfers, how spend-down works for savings and for income, what a spouse at home is allowed to keep, when a state can recover costs from an estate, and whether Medicaid pays for assisted living or dental care. Rules differ from state to state, so check the details with your state Medicaid office before you act.
Medicaid
Does Medicaid Pay for Assisted Living? The Real Answer
Medicaid can pay for care in assisted living, but never for rent or meals, and the care coverage comes with a waitlist in many states.
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Medicaid
How the Medicaid Look-Back Period Actually Works (With the Penalty Math)
Medicaid reviews five years of transfers before a long-term care application.
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Medicaid
Medicaid Spend-Down: What It Really Means (And the Myths That Trip People Up)
"Spend-down" covers two separate rules, one for savings and one for monthly income. Most mistakes come from mixing them up or from treating a gift as a spend-down.
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Medicaid
Spousal Impoverishment Protections: How CSRA and MMMNA Actually Work
A spouse at home does not have to spend down to nothing before the other qualifies for nursing home Medicaid.
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Medicaid
Will Medicaid Take My House? What Estate Recovery Actually Means
Medicaid does not take a house when someone enters a nursing home.
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Medicaid
Does Medicaid Cover Dental for Adults? What Seniors Should Know
Each state decides what adult dental care Medicaid covers. How to check yours, how it works with Medicare and PACE, and low-cost options.
Read more →Medicaid long-term care at a glance for 2026
Medicare does not pay for ongoing custodial care in a nursing home or assisted living, so many families end up relying on Medicaid. Its long-term care rules are where the most costly mistakes happen: giving money away inside the look-back period, or assuming a spouse at home will lose everything.
| Rule | 2026 figure |
|---|---|
| Medicaid look-back for nursing home care | 60 months before you apply in most states |
| Typical asset limit for the person applying | $2,000 in most states |
| Assets a spouse at home can keep (CSRA) | Between $32,532 and $162,660, depending on the state |
Where to start
- Not sure you qualify? Start with the Medicaid eligibility calculator, or the long-term care eligibility estimator if the question is nursing home care.
- Gave money or property away in the last five years? Read how the look-back penalty is calculated and run the look-back calculator.
- Married? See what a spouse at home can keep and check the community spouse allowance.
- Worried about the house? Read what estate recovery really means and use the estate recovery checker.