CHANGE IN MASSHEALTH SPOUSAL ALLOWANCE

MassHealth has raised the minimum community spousal resource allowance—the amount of countable assets the healthy spouse may keep while the ill spouse qualifies for MassHealth coverage of his nursing home care to $80,760. Up until this year, the "community spouse" has been limited to half of the couple’s combined countable assets up to this figure. So, for instance, if the couple’s combined countable assets totaled $100,000, the community spouse was limited to $50,000, and the balance had to be spent down to $2,000 before the ill spouse could qualify for MassHealth for long-term care. This change does not affect couples with a higher level of resources, since they have always been able to keep the maximum allowance amount.

Excerpted from "Massachusetts Update", Spring 1998, a publication of ElderLaw Services.

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