These numbers move almost every year, so here are the figures Florida uses for long-term-care Medicaid (the program that helps pay for a nursing home or in-home care) in 2026, in plain English, along with what they actually mean for a family trying to protect a parent’s home and savings.
The 2026 figures
For long-term-care Medicaid (Florida calls it the Institutional Care Program), an applicant generally has to fit inside three limits: income, assets, and a medical level-of-care need. Here are the 2026 dollar figures:
- Income cap: $2,982 per month (for one person). This is a hard cap, not a sliding scale.
- Asset limit: $2,000 in countable assets (for the applicant). Your home, one car, personal belongings, and a prepaid funeral generally do not count.
- Community spouse resource allowance: up to $162,660. If one spouse needs care and the other stays home, the healthy spouse can keep up to this amount of the couple’s countable assets, on top of the exempt items.
- Spousal income allowance: $2,644 to $4,067 per month. The at-home spouse can keep a minimum monthly income, and more if housing costs are high, so that getting one spouse onto Medicaid does not leave the other without enough to live on.
- Home equity limit: $752,000. Your Florida homestead is exempt while you, your spouse, or a minor or disabled child lives there. Above that equity, and without one of those people in the home, the house can start to count.
For context on why any of this matters: a Florida nursing home runs roughly $10,000 a month. That is the bill these rules are built around.
What the numbers do not tell you
The figures are the easy part. The traps are in how they apply:
- Being over the income cap is fixable, and it does not disqualify you. Income above $2,982 is handled with a special account (sometimes called a Miller trust or qualified income trust) that holds the overage so you still qualify. Many families give up too early because their parent’s income is a few hundred dollars over the line.
- Do not give assets away to “spend down.” Florida looks back five years at gifts and transfers, and an improper transfer creates a penalty period of no coverage. The instinct to move money to the kids is usually the wrong move and can do real damage.
- The home needs its own plan. It is exempt while your parent lives there, but after death, Florida’s Medicaid estate recovery can try to recoup what it paid, and it reaches assets that go through probate. A lady bird deed is the common tool that passes the home outside probate, so recovery generally cannot reach it.
The takeaway
These are the 2026 numbers, and they will change again. The figures decide whether someone qualifies today; the planning decides whether they qualify without gifting away the house or draining the healthy spouse. That second part is the real work, and most of it can still be done even when a parent is already in care.
You can estimate where your family stands with our Florida Medicaid eligibility calculator, or we can sort it out together in a free 30-minute consult. You do not need to have it figured out first.
Related Guides
- How to qualify for Medicaid in Florida
- Florida Medicaid eligibility calculator
- Can a nursing home take your house in Florida?
- Florida Medicaid planning attorney
Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate planning and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court. This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.