Medicaid is a means-tested, federal-state health insurance program for low income and needy people. As with any means-tested government assistance program, in order for an individual to qualify for Medicaid, they must have limited income and assets. However, Medicaid does not consider every asset belonging to an applicant or a couple to be "countable" for purposes of eligibility.
If an asset is "non-countable," it is ignored for purposes of determining how much property the individual or the couple owns. Non-countable property may be targeted for other purposes — for example, for purposes of recovering the amount that Medicaid paid for an individual’s care from his or her estate after death. But for purposes of determining whether the individual has more than $2,000 in assets at the time of application, or for determining his or her spouse’s Community Spouse Resource Allowance at that time, it is as if the individual or the couple did not own the non-countable asset.
Countable/Non-Exempt are assets that are counted towards the Medicaid asset limitations. Examples of countable/non-exempt resources include the following:
• Cash
• Checking Accounts
• Savings Accounts
• CDS
• Investment Accounts
• Bonds
• Stocks
• Deferred annuities
• Life insurance
• IRAs in some states
• Real Property (other than home)
• Boats, RVs
Protected/Exempt/Non-Countable are assets that are not counted towards Medicaid asset limitations. Examples of protected/exempt/non-countable resources include the following:
• Home
• Automobile
• Household goods and personal property
• Irrevocable funeral trust / Prepaid burial
• IRAs in some states