Medicaid non-countable assets are property your state agency excludes from the resource test when you apply for nursing-home or waiver coverage. Federal rules keep one primary home (within an equity cap), one vehicle, burial spaces, up to $1,500 in designated burial funds per person, and ordinary household goods off the balance sheet. Most states still use a $2,000 countable limit for a single applicant, so knowing what never enters the math often matters more than the headline cap.
Medicaid caseworkers split your property into countable resources and non-countable assets. Countable items include cash, checking accounts, CDs, stocks, bonds, non-exempt real estate, and most retirement accounts in the applicant's name. Non-countable assets never enter the total that gets compared to your state limit.
Think of the $2,000 figure most states publish as a ceiling on countable property, not a cap on everything you own. A widow in Allentown might hold $85,000 in CDs and still qualify once Pennsylvania DHS applies homestead, vehicle, and burial exclusions on the worksheet. The spend-down task targets only what remains countable after those lines.
Program type matters. Regular Medicaid for people living at home often ignores the nursing-home equity cap. Institutional Medicaid and Home and Community-Based Services waivers apply stricter home rules. Read our Medicaid countable assets list for the full countable side before you move money.
Exclusions are not automatic gifts to heirs. Medicaid may still pursue estate recovery against a home after death in many states. Non-countable only means the agency will not force a sale during life to meet the resource test.
Common mistake:Assuming every dollar in the house is safe. Equity above your state cap can count against you unless a protected relative lives there. Run your address through the Pennsylvania calculator or your own state tool before you assume the deed alone protects you.
Your primary residence is the most valuable Medicaid non-countable asset most families hold. Federal law excludes the home when you live in it, when you have a documented intent to return from a facility, or when your spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child of any age still lives there. The equity cap does not apply when those relatives occupy the house.
Congress added a home equity interest limit in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. For 2026, states must pick a cap between $752,000 (federal minimum) and $1,130,000 (federal maximum). Pennsylvania DHS posts $713,000 on nursing-home worksheets. Georgia DFCS and North Carolina DMA use the same $713,000 tier. Michigan MDHHS applies the federal minimum as well.
Equity interest is your ownership share of market value minus valid liens. James in Grand Rapids owned half of a $620,000 home with a $180,000 mortgage. His equity interest was $220,000, under Michigan's cap, so the house stayed non-countable while he stated intent to return from rehab. If his equity interest had cleared $713,000 with no spouse in the home, MDHHS could have counted the excess.
A vacation cabin, rental duplex, or raw land never qualifies as a non-countable home. Those parcels count at fair market value minus selling costs. For a deeper walkthrough of occupancy tests and intent-to-return forms, see our home exemption blog post.
| State | Published equity cap | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $713,000 | DHS counts excess equity if applicant alone in facility |
| Michigan | $713,000 | MDHHS applies cap when no protected resident lives there |
| Illinois | $713,000 | HFS uses federal minimum on nursing-home cases |
| Georgia | $713,000 | DFCS applies cap when no spouse or dependent child in home |
| North Carolina | $713,000 | DMA applies federal minimum tier |
Federal regulations exclude one automobile per household when someone uses it for transportation. The exclusion covers cars, trucks, vans, and motorcycles titled to the applicant, spouse, or dependent. Value does not matter. A 2010 Toyota and a new luxury SUV receive the same treatment.
20 CFR 416.1218 treats the vehicle as non-countable even when it is not running, as long as it is reasonable to repair. A second vehicle counts at wholesale or Kelley Blue Book value unless another exemption applies, such as a disabled adult child who drives it to work.
Linda in Atlanta kept a paid-off Honda for her husband Marcus, who still lived in their Decatur bungalow. Marcus's Medicaid application listed a $42,000 brokerage account as countable but excluded the Honda entirely. Their son's second car in Charlotte did not belong to Marcus's household and never appeared on his Georgia worksheet.
Some states ask for registration copies at application. Others rely on self-reporting. List every titled vehicle in the household on the form, then claim the exclusion for the primary transportation vehicle on the correct line.
Burial-related Medicaid non-countable assets fall into three buckets: burial spaces, irrevocable funeral agreements, and designated burial funds. Burial spaces include cemetery plots, crypts, mausoleum spaces, urns, headstones, and opening-and-closing services tied to a specific grave. Federal rules exclude those spaces without a dollar limit for the applicant, spouse, and immediate family members.
Designated burial funds are separate. Each applicant and each spouse may set aside up to $1,500 in cash, a savings account, or certain life insurance face values clearly marked for burial. The account title or a signed designation must say the money is for funeral costs. Commingling burial money with everyday checking can void the exclusion.
Irrevocable funeral trusts and prepaid funeral contracts are non-countable in most states when the contract cannot be cashed out. Illinois HFS and North Carolina DMA both allow prepaid plans that name the funeral home or trustee as payee. Revocable funeral contracts count as resources until you spend them.
Betty in Raleigh funded a $8,400 irrevocable funeral contract with a Durham funeral home and kept a $1,500 burial fund at her credit union. North Carolina DMA excluded all of it. Her neighbor tried to label a $11,000 savings account as burial money without retitling. The caseworker counted the full balance.
Common mistake:Buying a revocable prepaid funeral plan the week before filing. Revocable contracts stay countable. Ask the funeral director for an irrevocable assignment or trust document your state agency recognizes.
Medicaid does not count ordinary household goods, furniture, appliances, clothing, or personal effects toward the resource limit. Wedding and engagement rings are excluded. So are prosthetic devices, wheelchairs, and hearing aids used by the applicant.
The exclusion covers items meant for personal use, not investment inventory. A stamp collection worth $35,000 or gold coins stored in a safe may count as countable resources if the agency treats them as collectibles. A living-room sofa and bedroom dresser never appear on a standard worksheet.
Carol in Springfield downsized from a two-bedroom home to a daughter's apartment before applying for Illinois nursing-home Medicaid. She sold excess furniture at a tag sale for $5,200 and deposited the cash. The deposit counted. The beds and dishes she kept for daily use did not.
Applicants rarely need appraisals for lamps, pots, or clothing. Focus documentation effort on bank accounts, deeds, and vehicles instead. If you own fine art or antiques, get a written appraisal because the caseworker may classify them as investments.
Term life insurance with no cash value is non-countable. Whole life policies combine an insurance face amount with a cash surrender value. Federal rules exclude policies whose total face values are $1,500 or less. Cash value in larger policies counts unless assigned to burial.
Income-producing property and business equipment can qualify as "tools of trade" when the applicant still works. Retired nursing-home applicants rarely use this line. Military burial benefits and certain Native American allotments carry their own exclusions under SSA policy manuals.
Assets in a properly structured Medicaid Asset Protection Trust may be non-countable, but transfers into the trust during the five-year look-back trigger penalty months in every state. That planning path is separate from the built-in exclusions this post describes.
Community spouses receive extra protection on top of standard exclusions. The Community Spouse Resource Allowance shields a share of joint savings in 2026, with federal floors at $29,724 and ceilings at $162,660. Pennsylvania DHS and Michigan MDHHS both apply those figures before they finalize homestead treatment on married-couple worksheets.
Use the table below when you build a household balance sheet before filing. Pair it with the state calculator hub so countable totals match your jurisdiction's 2026 limits.
| Asset type | Typical treatment | Dollar limit | Documentation caseworkers request |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary home | Non-countable with occupancy, intent to return, or protected resident | Equity cap $752k–$1.13M in 2026 | Deed, mortgage statement, appraisal if near cap |
| One vehicle | Non-countable if used for transportation | None on value | Registration or self-certification |
| Household goods | Non-countable personal-use items | None | Rarely requested |
| Burial space | Non-countable plot, crypt, or niche | None | Cemetery contract or deed |
| Designated burial fund | Non-countable when titled correctly | $1,500 per person | Bank letter or account title |
| Irrevocable funeral contract | Non-countable prepaid plan | Varies by state | Irrevocable agreement from funeral home |
| Term life insurance | Non-countable | N/A | Policy declaration page |
| Whole life insurance | Non-countable only if total face ≤ $1,500 | $1,500 combined face | Insurer statement showing cash value |
| Second vehicle | Countable | Fair market value | Title and valuation |
| Vacation property | Countable | Fair market value minus liens | Deed and tax assessment |
Every state Medicaid agency starts from the same federal exclusion list but adds local wrinkles. Pennsylvania DHS applies the $713,000 equity cap on nursing-home cases while excluding one car and $1,500 burial funds on the same worksheet. Michigan MDHHS mirrors those figures for long-term care but enforces strict countable asset tests on IRAs in the applicant's name.
Illinois stands apart in 2026. HFS raised the individual asset limit to $17,500 for many applicants, far above the old $2,000 floor. That higher cap still does not make a second home or extra brokerage account non-countable. Use the Illinois Medicaid spend down calculator for that hybrid model.
Georgia DFCS and North Carolina DMA both use the $713,000 equity tier and the standard $2,000 individual resource cap for nursing-home cases. Georgia community spouse protections follow federal CSRA ranges from $29,724 to $162,660 in 2026. North Carolina applies spousal impoverishment before it finalizes homestead treatment, so a community spouse in Charlotte can keep higher combined resources than a single applicant in a Raleigh facility.
When numbers conflict between a blog post and an agency handbook, trust the handbook dated within the current calendar year. County caseworkers follow the manual on their desk, not a website summary. Our editorial policy describes how we source limits from CMS releases and state manuals.
Common mistake:Using last year's equity cap after CMS publishes January updates. Caps change annually. Re-run the Georgia calculator or your state page after each federal notice.
Spend Down Calculator tools add up countable assets after you mark non-countable items. Enter bank balances, retirement totals, and non-homestead real estate on your state page. The form applies the published 2026 resource limit, CSRA range for married couples, and notes where homestead or vehicle exclusions sit outside the math.
Pennsylvania families can model the $2,000 DHS cap at the Pennsylvania Medicaid spend down calculator. Michigan applicants start at the Michigan calculator for Wayne and Washtenaw county resource math.
Illinois applicants use the Illinois calculator to test the $17,500 limit against countable CDs and brokerage accounts. Georgia and North Carolina tools at the Georgia calculator and North Carolina calculator apply the $2,000 cap and homestead equity rules for DFCS and DMA cases.
The widgets do not decide eligibility. They do not know whether your county caseworker will accept your intent-to-return statement or whether a funeral contract meets irrevocable standards. They also skip penalty calculations for gifts made during the look-back.
Best use: run your state calculator with two scenarios. First, include only countable resources. Second, adjust after you confirm non-countable classifications with an attorney. The gap between those runs shows how much lawful spend-down may remain. Pair calculator output with the Medicaid exempt assets guide before you pay facility deposits or transfer deed titles.
Federal rules exclude a primary home within the equity cap, one vehicle, burial spaces, up to $1,500 per person in designated burial funds, household goods, clothing, wedding rings, and term life insurance. Whole life policies stay non-countable only when total face values are $1,500 or less. States may add narrow exclusions, but the list above covers most nursing-home cases.
Your house can stay non-countable if a spouse, minor child, or blind or disabled child lives there, or if you sign intent to return and your equity interest is below your state cap. For 2026, that cap ranges from $752,000 to $1,130,000 depending on the state. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, and North Carolina use $713,000. If no one qualifies and equity exceeds the cap, the home counts as a resource.
Long-term care applicants must usually keep home equity interest at or below the state cap. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, and North Carolina use $713,000 in 2026. The cap drops away when a protected spouse or dependent child remains in the home. Equity interest equals your ownership share of value minus valid mortgages.
Yes. One automobile per household is non-countable regardless of value when someone uses it for transportation. A second vehicle counts at fair market value. Register the primary car in the application and keep registration copies in case the caseworker asks.
You may keep unlimited value in burial plots and related spaces. Cash burial funds are capped at $1,500 per applicant and $1,500 for a spouse when accounts are clearly designated. Irrevocable prepaid funeral contracts are non-countable in most states without counting toward that $1,500 if the contract cannot be revoked.
No. Ordinary household goods, furniture, appliances, clothing, and personal effects are not counted. Collectibles, coin collections, or art held as investments may count. Sell those items before application if you need to reduce countable resources.
