New Medicaid Rules on Home Ownership – New York Times
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, signed by President Bush last Wednesday, makes significant changes in the rules regarding home ownership and its effect on eligibility for Medicaid, which is often used to pay for nursing-home care.
Ronald Fatoullah, a lawyer in Great Neck, on Long Island, said that in determining an applicant’s assets, the value of an individual’s home was usually exempt. But under the new law, he said, a person with more than $500,000 in home equity is ineligible for nursing-home care under Medicaid. (Homes occupied by a spouse or a disabled or minor child are exempt. And the law allows states to increase the threshold to $750,000.)