Allowance For Spouse Application In Massachusetts
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Community Spouse Resource Allowance In 2023, the spouse of a MassHealth recipient living in a nursing home (called the “community spouse”) may keep as much as $148,620 without jeopardizing the MassHealth eligibility of the spouse who is receiving long-term care.
The eligible beneficiary is limited to a member's spouse, the member's former spouse (provided he or she has not remarried at the time of being designated as the Option D beneficiary), the member's child, parent, or sibling.
Your spouse must be receiving benefits for you to get benefits on their work record. If your spouse does not receive retirement or disability, you'll have to wait to apply on your spouse's record. In addition, to be eligible for spouse's benefits, you must be one of the following: 62 years of age or older.
The non-applicant spouse of a Nursing Home Medicaid or Medicaid Waiver applicant, however, is permitted a Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA). In 2025, this Spousal Impoverishment Rule allows the community spouse (the non-applicant spouse) to retain 50% of the couple's assets, up to a maximum of $157,920.
The total of the assets is divided by two, with half considered to be owned by each spouse. In some states, community spouses are entitled to up to 100% of the couple's assets up to the maximum resource allowance for that state. States with a 100% CSRA include Alaska, California, Florida, Maine and Mississippi.
The Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) is $109,560 and the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA) is $2,739.
The CSRA protects assets owned by a couple when one spouse applies for Institutional Medicaid or Medicaid Waivers by allowing the community spouse to retain up to a maximum of $154,140 of the couple's assets as of 2024.
