Massachusetts Medicaid Asset Limits

Home equity and a community spouse

For residents of a long-term-care facility, MassHealth publishes a 2026 maximum home-equity limit of $1,130,000. The same current table lists a community-spouse minimum resource standard of $32,532 and maximum resource standard of $162,660, each effective January 1 unless otherwise noted (MassHealth 2026 financial guidelines).

The resource allowance is a spousal-impoverishment protection, not an automatic conclusion about every asset in a married household. Financial eligibility rules direct MassHealth to evaluate assets owned by or available to the individual or spouse, and transfer rules can apply to a spouse’s action as well as the nursing-facility resident’s action (130 CMR 520.000).

Income works differently by route

MassHealth does not publish a single institutional-care income-cap figure beside its 2026 nursing-facility table. Instead, the regulation identifies a $72.80 long-term-care income standard and directs MassHealth to take long-term-care deductions in sequence, including the personal-needs allowance, spousal and family maintenance allowances, home-maintenance allowance, and health-care or remedial-care expenses when calculating the monthly patient-paid amount (130 CMR 520.000).

By contrast, adult HCBS waiver applicants must have income below 300% of the SSI federal benefit rate, which MassHealth lists as $2,982 in 2026, and assets below $2,000. A Qualified Income Trust should therefore not be assumed to solve every Massachusetts long-term-care situation; obtain advice about the particular program and income calculation (Massachusetts HCBS waivers).

Use the current table

MassHealth’s table says its figures are effective January 1 unless otherwise noted. Because the table is updated annually and individual facts determine countability, a family should use the current state source and document balances, ownership, and transfers before filing or spending down (MassHealth 2026 financial guidelines).