If you are on Medicaid and you get remarried, does the new income and assets impact your eligibility?
Yes, if you are on Medicaid and get remarried, your new spouse’s income and assets could impact your eligibility. This is because Medicaid’s financial eligibility criteria is different for single seniors versus those who are married.
It is important to differentiate between the regular state Medicaid program for seniors, often called Aged, Blind and Disabled Medicaid, and Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Medicaid Waivers. These two programs calculate the income and assets of married seniors differently. Note that for the sake of answering this question, we are assuming the new spouse is not a Medicaid recipient and the spouse receiving Medicaid is not in a nursing home.
For Aged, Blind and Disabled Medicaid, the income and assets of a married couple are calculated together. Stated differently, the income and assets of a new spouse will be used in redetermining the eligibility of the spouse on Medicaid. Even if one’s new spouse has limited income and assets, it can cause a Medicaid recipient to lose their Medicaid eligibility. See eligibility criteria by state.
For HCBS Medicaid Waivers, the income of a non-applicant spouse is not counted towards the applicant spouse’s Medicaid eligibility. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how much income the non-applicant spouse makes, as it will not cause the Medicaid recipient spouse to lose their Medicaid eligibility. Assets, on the other hand, are considered jointly owned. There is, however, a special resource allowance, which allows the non-applicant spouse to retain a higher amount of the couple’s assets. This is called a Community Spouse Resource Allowance. If the new spouse does not have a significant amount of assets, it might not impact the Medicaid eligibility of the spouse who is receiving benefits via a HCBS Medicaid waiver.
Learn more about how Medicaid counts income.