How To Qualify for Medicaid & IRAs

Medicaid is a health insurance program that is funded by both the state and federal governments and operated by the state government. It is designed to provide health coverage for certain low-income individuals and families, including pregnant women, children, disabled individuals and the elderly. An individual retirement account (IRA) is a personal savings account that provides tax breaks and is used for saving money for retirement. Medicaid counts IRAs towards resource limits that must be met in order to be eligible for Medicaid.

Things You'll Need

• Telephone

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Instructions

• 1

  Contact your local or state Medicaid office in order to inquire about your state's exact rules regarding IRAs and Medicaid. You can obtain contact information for your state Medicaid office from the National Association for Medicaid Director's website.

• 2

  Spend the money in your IRA until it is below the Medicaid resource limit. Save all receipts for how this money is spent. The Medicaid resource limit is typically set at $1,500 for an individual and $2,250 for couples. This resource limit also includes savings accounts, checking accounts, life insurance policies, the value of any vehicle other than your primary vehicle, the value of any house that is not your primary residency and cash on hand.

• 3

  Wait for 60 months (5 years) after you spend the cash in your IRA before applying for Medicaid, unless your local or state Medicaid office tells you that you may apply for Medicaid earlier without the IRA counting against you.