Medicaid exempt assets are property your state agency does not count toward the resource limit when you apply for nursing-home or waiver coverage. Federal rules protect 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. Most states still use a $2,000 countable limit for a single applicant, so knowing what stays off the worksheet often matters more than the headline number.
Medicaid workers split your property into countable resources and exempt assets. Countable items include cash, checking accounts, CDs, stocks, bonds, non-exempt real estate, and most retirement accounts in the applicant's name. Exempt assets stay off the balance sheet even when your bank total would blow past the limit.
Think of the $2,000 figure most states publish as a ceiling on countable property, not a cap on everything you own. A couple in Tampa might hold $340,000 in countable CDs and still qualify once HHSC or AHCA 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 asset limits guide for the full countable list before you move money.
Exemptions are not automatic gifts to heirs. Medicaid may still pursue estate recovery against a home after death in many states. Exempt only means the agency will not force a sale during life to meet the resource test.
Common mistake:Treating every dollar in the house as safe. Equity above your state cap can count against you unless a protected relative lives there. Run your address through the Florida calculator or your own state tool before you assume the deed alone protects you.
Your primary residence is the most valuable Medicaid exempt 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). About forty states use $713,000 or another figure in that band. Texas HHSC posts $713,000 on 2026 worksheets. New York uses the $1,130,000 ceiling. California applies its own Medi-Cal rules and currently lists a $713,000 figure on long-term care materials even though its broader asset limit changed in 2026.
Equity interest is your ownership share of market value minus valid liens. Maria in San Antonio owned half of a $900,000 home with a $200,000 mortgage. Her equity interest was $350,000, under the Texas cap, so the house stayed exempt while she stated intent to return from rehab. If her equity interest had cleared $713,000 with no spouse in the home, HHSC could have counted the excess.
A vacation cabin, rental duplex, or raw land never qualifies as an exempt home. Those parcels count at fair market value minus selling costs. If you need to model both homestead and investment property, open the Texas Medicaid spend down calculator and list non-homestead real estate separately.
| State | Published equity cap | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | $713,000 | Federal minimum tier; spouse in home removes cap |
| Florida | $713,000 | AHCA applies cap when no protected resident lives there |
| Ohio | $713,000 | Ohio Department of Medicaid uses federal minimum |
| New York | $1,130,000 | Federal maximum; NYC metro homes often tested against this line |
| Pennsylvania | $713,000 | DHS counts excess equity if applicant alone in facility |
| California | $713,000 on LTC sheets | Separate $130,000 asset limit reinstated for Medi-Cal in 2026 |
Applicants who enter a nursing home without a spouse or dependent child at home can still exempt the house by stating intent to return. Caseworkers accept the statement on the application in most states. Medical reality does not have to match the checkbox, though agencies may revisit the claim at annual redetermination.
Robert in Cleveland entered a skilled nursing facility after a hip fracture. His wife had died two years earlier. Ohio Medicaid kept his Parma bungalow exempt because he signed intent to return and his equity sat near $180,000, below Ohio's cap. If Robert later sold the house, proceeds became countable cash the month they hit his account.
Couples face a harder twist. When the institutionalized spouse has no intent to return and the community spouse dies, the home can pass to the nursing-home spouse through intestate succession. That inheritance can disqualify coverage until the house is sold and proceeds are spent on care. Our spousal impoverishment guide walks through community spouse protections that interact with homestead rules.
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 2012 Honda and a new luxury SUV receive the same treatment.
20 CFR 416.1218 treats the vehicle as exempt 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.
Diane in Pittsburgh kept a paid-off Subaru for her husband Paul, who still lived in their Squirrel Hill row house. Paul's Medicaid application listed a $38,000 brokerage account as countable but excluded the Subaru entirely. Their daughter's second car in California did not belong to Paul's household and never appeared on his Pennsylvania 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 exemption for the primary transportation vehicle on the correct line.
Burial-related Medicaid exempt 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 exempt in most states when the contract cannot be cashed out. Florida AHCA and Texas HHSC both allow prepaid plans that name the funeral home or trustee as payee. Revocable funeral contracts count as resources until you spend them.
Harold in Columbus funded a $9,200 irrevocable funeral contract with a Dayton funeral home and kept a $1,500 burial fund at his credit union. Ohio Medicaid excluded all of it. His neighbor tried to label a $12,000 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 $40,000 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.
Evelyn in Queens downsized from a three-bedroom home to a daughter's apartment before applying for New York nursing-home Medicaid. She sold excess furniture at a tag sale for $6,400 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 exempt. 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 exempt from counting, 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 exemptions this guide describes.
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 | Exempt with occupancy, intent to return, or protected resident | Equity cap $752k–$1.13M in 2026 | Deed, mortgage statement, appraisal if near cap |
| One vehicle | Exempt if used for transportation | None on value | Registration or self-certification |
| Household goods | Exempt personal-use items | None | Rarely requested |
| Burial space | Exempt plot, crypt, or niche | None | Cemetery contract or deed |
| Designated burial fund | Exempt when titled correctly | $1,500 per person | Bank letter or account title |
| Irrevocable funeral contract | Exempt prepaid plan | Varies by state | Irrevocable agreement from funeral home |
| Term life insurance | Exempt | N/A | Policy declaration page |
| Whole life insurance | Exempt 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 |
Work through this list three to six months before a nursing-home admission when possible. Early sorting prevents crisis sales of property that could have stayed exempt with correct paperwork.
Every state Medicaid agency starts from the same federal exclusion list but adds local wrinkles. Florida AHCA applies the $713,000 equity cap on nursing-home cases while exempting one car and $1,500 burial funds on the same worksheet. Texas HHSC mirrors those figures for MEPD long-term care. Ohio Department of Medicaid posts identical federal burial and vehicle rules but enforces strict countable asset tests on IRAs.
New York's $1,130,000 equity ceiling protects more high-value homes in the five boroughs and Westchester County than Midwestern states using the $713,000 tier. Pennsylvania DHS applies spousal impoverishment before it finalizes homestead treatment, so a community spouse in Philadelphia can keep higher combined resources than a single applicant in a Scranton facility.
California stands apart in 2026. Medi-Cal reinstated a $130,000 asset limit for many applicants, far above the old $2,000 floor but still below the value of some Bay Area homes. Use the California Medicaid spend down calculator for that hybrid model. Cross-state families should open the tool for the state where the applicant will file, not where adult children live, as explained on our spend-down overview.
When numbers conflict between a blog post and an agency handbook, trust the handbook dated within the current calendar year. 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 Pennsylvania calculator or your state page after each federal notice.
Spend Down Calculator tools add up countable assets after you mark exempt items. Enter bank balances, retirement totals, and non-homestead real estate on the calculator hub page for your state. The form applies the published 2026 resource limit, CSRA range for married couples, and notes where homestead or vehicle exclusions sit outside the math.
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 the Michigan calculator or your home state version with two scenarios. First, include only countable resources. Second, adjust after you confirm exempt classifications with an attorney. The gap between those runs shows how much lawful spend-down may remain.
Pair calculator output with the exemption checklist in this guide before you pay facility deposits or transfer deed titles. Read who we are for limits on what this site can and cannot advise.
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 exempt 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 exempt 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. 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. Texas, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania use $713,000 in 2026. New York allows up to $1,130,000. 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 exempt 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 exempt 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.
The community spouse keeps exempt property such as the home and one car, plus a Community Spouse Resource Allowance that protects a share of joint savings. CSRA floors and ceilings change yearly. In 2026 the federal CSRA range runs from $29,724 to $162,660. State agencies apply those figures on top of standard exemptions.
Exempt status during life does not always shield property from estate recovery. Many states file liens or claims against homes after a Medicaid recipient dies. Rules vary by state and by whether a surviving spouse or disabled child still lives in the house. Estate recovery is separate from the resource test at application.
Selling an exempt home or car turns proceeds into countable cash unless you reinvest in another exempt item quickly under state rules. Report the sale at your next redetermination. Spend-down strategies such as paying medical debt or buying burial contracts may apply, but each purchase must follow agency rules.
