Income, spend-down, home equity, and the community spouse
Maryland publishes medically needy monthly income standards of $350 for one person and $392 for two people in its 2026 appendix. Its coverage-group guide expressly includes ABD long-term care with spend-down. The appendix does not state a separate long-term-care income cap or discuss a Qualified Income Trust, so an above-income situation should be analyzed under the current spend-down rules rather than treated as a generic income-cap-state problem (Maryland 2026 appendix schedules; Maryland coverage-group guide).
The same current appendix carries a $752,000 excess-home-equity limit for long-term-care coverage, labeled effective 2025. Because that is the most recent verifiable figure located in the 2026 schedule packet, families should confirm that it remains current before acting. A home’s eligibility treatment is not the same question as its later estate-recovery treatment (Maryland 2026 appendix schedules; COMAR 10.09.24.15).
For 2026, Maryland’s maximum community-spouse resource share is $162,660 and the minimum is $32,532. The appendix also lists a $2,643 basic maintenance-and-shelter allowance, a $793 excess-shelter standard, and a $4,066 maximum maintenance-and-shelter allowance; the actual monthly income allowance is an individualized calculation, not automatically the maximum (Maryland 2026 appendix schedules).
Use current schedules and case-specific facts
A resource assessment, home-equity review, and income spend-down are date-sensitive. The numbers can be revised on different schedules, and a spouse’s protected amount depends on the couple’s resources and circumstances. Do not transfer, retitle, or spend an asset based only on a general online chart (Medicaid.gov spousal-impoverishment overview).
Current planning figures: $2,500 individual resources; $3,000 basic two-person resources; $350/$392 medically needy monthly standards; $752,000 home equity listed effective 2025; and a $32,532 to $162,660 2026 community-spouse resource range (
Maryland 2026 appendix schedules).
For broader context, see Medicaid (Baseline). A Maryland elder-law attorney or eligibility professional should apply the current schedules to the couple’s actual assessment date and asset records.
Not mutually exclusive. Most families combine two or three funding pillars — this one rarely stands alone.
The
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