Maryland Medicaid Look-Back Period

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: Maryland

Maryland applies a 60-month transfer review

Maryland’s institutionalized-persons manual states that the look-back period for disposals is limited to 60 months. The manual also distinguishes that five-year disposal review from a separate 30-month period referenced for assistance in making an asset inaccessible, so families should not assume that every rule about inaccessible assets uses the same clock (Maryland institutionalized-persons manual).

The transfer worksheet directs Maryland workers to complete a separate worksheet for each transfer. It identifies transfers to a spouse, a blind or disabled child, an unmarried child under 21, and certain qualifying home transfers as transactions that stop the worksheet before the ordinary penalty calculation; the exact exemption requirements must be satisfied, not merely asserted (Maryland DES/LTC 811 transfer worksheet).

The current published penalty divisor

Maryland’s 2026 appendix schedules list an MA-6 average monthly amount payable for skilled-nursing-facility care of $12,501 and an average daily amount of $411, both effective July 1, 2025. The institutionalized-persons manual’s formula divides the uncompensated value by the MA-6 monthly average cost for full months and by the MA-6 daily average for a partial month. The schedule’s stated effective date is important: it is the most recent verifiable amount located here, not a promise that every future application will use it (Maryland 2026 appendix schedules; Maryland institutionalized-persons manual).

The worksheet first calculates equity value by subtracting encumbrances from fair market value, then calculates uncompensated value by subtracting compensation received. It uses those results to produce full-month and partial-month penalty periods. A dated appraisal, closing statement, loan information, proof of payment, and explanation of the transaction can therefore matter as much as the amount transferred (Maryland institutionalized-persons manual).

A penalty can affect long-term-care payment without ending all Medicaid

The manual says an active penalty is processed to close the long-term-care span for nursing-facility or HCB-waiver services, while the individual’s general Medicaid eligibility on MMIS screen 1 is not affected. That distinction is not a funding solution: it means the family may still face a period during which Medicaid does not pay for the long-term-care service it needs (Maryland institutionalized-persons manual).

Current Maryland MA-6 calculation figures: $12,501 per month and $411 per day, both shown effective July 1, 2025. The 60-month look-back and the individual transfer facts must be analyzed together (Maryland 2026 appendix schedules).

For broader crisis-planning concepts, see Crisis Planning / Half-a-Loaf. Before making a gift, funding a trust, changing a deed, or signing a family-care agreement, obtain Maryland-specific legal advice.

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Maryland applies a 60-month transfer review

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