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- New Attorney Catherine E. Malesky Joins the Elder Law Center (8/25/10)
- Proposed Rules Signed Implementing the Deficit Reduction Act Concerning Medicaid Assistance for Long-Term Care (8/25/10)
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- Health Reform Law's Pre-Existing Condition Plan Kicks In (7/16/10)
- Court Again Rules That Part D Recipients Must Repay Mistaken Refunds (6/24/10)
- How Risky Is Buying a Limited-Duration Long-Term Care Insurance Policy? (6/8/10)
- Social Security Adds New Online Medicare Application (5/20/10)
- Steps to Take in Advance of Death or Disability (4/29/10)
- Investigative Report Questions Five-Star Rating System for Nursing Homes (4/28/10)
- Health Reform: What Changes Are in Store for the Elderly? (4/8/10)
- Demise of Estate Tax Could Have Serious Consequences for Spouses (3/2/10)
- Social Security Calculator Now Available to Delayed Retirees (2/23/10)
- Things To Remember At Tax Time (2/5/10)
- Congress Lets Estate Tax Expire, But May Act Retroactively (1/12/10)
- Pre-Paid Funeral Plans: Buyer Beware (1/6/10)
- End Of Year Tax Planning Considerations (12/8/09)
- Bank Pays Price for Refusing to Honor Request Made Under a Power of Attorney (12/8/09)
- No Change In Medicaid Spousal Impoverishment Standards for 2010 (11/12/09)
- Switching Medicare Plans If You Move (10/28/09)
- IRS Issues Long-Term Care Premium Deductibility Limits for 2010 (10/19/09)
- New Web Site Promotes Senior Volunteer Opportunities (8/28/09)
- SSA Agrees to Stop Suspending Benefits Based on Existence of Arrest Warrant (8/26/09)
- Useful Financial, Retirement and Personal Calculators Available on the Web (7/30/09)
- Getting Cash From a Life Insurance Policy If You Are Terminally Ill (7/27/09)
- Accounting for Gifts and Loans to Children in Your Estate Plan (6/23/09)
- Requiring Adult Children to Pay for Aging Parents (6/23/09)
- You May Be Able to Claim Social Security Benefits Now and Claim More Later (6/23/09)
- Don't Fall for the 'Certified Copy of Your Deed' Swindle (6/15/09)
- Be Aware Of The Dangers Of Joint Accounts (6/1/09)
- Nearly Two-Thirds Face Risky Retirement Due to Long-Term Care Costs (5/19/09)
- Financial Downturn Coupled With Changing Estate Tax Rules Mean It's Time to Review Your Estate Plan (4/20/09)
- What The Stimulus Bill Means For The Elderly (3/6/09)
- Do You Have The Right Fiduciary? (2/24/09)
- Retirement Home Can Force Resident to Move to Higher Level of Care (2/18/09)
- New Tax Break Helps Surviving Spouse (4/3/08)
- 10 Million Boomers Will Develop Alzheimer's, Report Predicts (3/21/08)
- Why Not Just Use an Off-the-Shelf Power of Attorney Form? (2/28/08)
- Preventing A Will Contest (1/18/08)
- Why Do Married Men Claim Social Security Benefits So Early? (11/6/07)
- New Medicare Premiums (10/5/07)
- What is Required of an Executor? (8/20/07)
- Should You Sign a Nursing Home Admission Agreement? (7/3/07)
- Charitable Gift Annuities (6/4/07)
- How to Choose a Nursing Home (4/10/07)
- Medicaid Recovery of Home Catches Many Families by Surprise (1/5/07)
- Coordinating Medicare and Employer Coverage (12/26/06)
- When Should You Take Your Social Security Retirement Benefits? (10/6/06)
- How to Reduce Long-Term Care Insurance Costs (8/1/06)
No Change in Medicaid Spousal Impoverishment Standards for 2010
Last Updated: 11/12/09
For the first time since 1989, when a law was enacted protecting the spouses of institutionalized Medicaid recipients from impoverishment, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is not raising its guidelines for how much money the husbands or wives of institutionalized Medicaid recipients may keep. With no increase in the consumer price index on which these figures are based, the resource and income guidelines that prevailed in 2009 will apply in 2010 as well. This follows the announcement by Social Security Administration that there would be no cost of living increase in Social Security benefits.
In 2009 and 2010, the spouse of a Medicaid recipient living in a nursing home (called the "community spouse") can keep as much as $109,560 without jeopardizing the Medicaid eligibility of the spouse who is receiving long-term care. Called the "community spouse resource allowance," this is the most that a state may allow a community spouse to retain without a hearing or a court order. While some states set a lower maximum, the least that a state may allow a community spouse to retain in 2009 and 2010 is $21,912 .
Meanwhile, the maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance for 2009 and 2010 is $2,739. This is the most in monthly income that a community spouse is allowed to have if her own income is not enough to live on and she must take some or all of the institutionalized spouse's income. The minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance of $1,821.25 took effect July 1, 2009, and will not change until July 1, 2010. In determining how much income a particular community spouse is allowed to retain, states must abide by this upper and lower range. Bear in mind that these figures apply only if the community spouse needs to take income from the institutionalized spouse. According to Medicaid law, the community spouse may keep all her own income, even if it exceeds the maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance.
For a more complete explanation of the community spouse resource allowance and the monthly maintenance needs allowance, click here.