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North Dakota Medicaid Guidelines

Medicaid is a federally subsidized, state-run program that provides basic health insurance coverage to the poor and indigent. Resources are limited, and the state of North Dakota has imposed strict limits on income and asset levels for those who wish to apply. The intent is to focus available benefits on those who need them most.

  1. Overall Eligibility and Scope

    • North Dakota's Medicaid program provides basic medical coverage to children in foster care or who have been adopted; children with disabilities; seniors and low-income Medicare beneficiaries; disabled workers; and pregnant women and women with breast or cervical cancer. You must be a resident of North Dakota to qualify for North Dakota Medicaid.

    Income Guidelines

    • The state has imposed strict guidelines on income levels allowed for Medicaid beneficiaries. The state looks at a family's total income and family size, but subtracts such items as work-related expenses, taxes, health insurance premiums, child support paid to someone else and the costs of caring for a dependent. These amounts are are not counted against the applicant for the purposes of determining eligibility.

    Asset Restrictions

    • Disabled, blind and elderly applicants can have a maximum in $3,000 in "countable assets." Married couples may have up to $6,000 in countable assets. Countable assets include any kind of financial asset, including stocks, bonds, bank accounts and properties. Some assets, called "noncountable assets," are exempt from this requirement, including your home, a car, burial plans, property required for self-employment, household goods/furniture, Indian trust and restricted lands and judgment funds. There are no asset restrictions on families enrolling in the Women and Families coverage group or the Women's Way program.

    Guidelines for Spousal Impoverishment

    • If one spouse needs Medicaid services or nursing home care, that spouse may have up to $3,000 in assets. The surviving spouse, however, may keep half the countable assets the couple owns, but not less than $21,912, and not more than $109,560. These numbers were current as of the calendar year end of 2010. The state will generally take a lien on property and collect when the surviving spouse dies to recoup any Medicaid benefits paid on their behalf.

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