Florida Medicaid Income Limit 2026: Caps, Exempt Assets, and What Counts

The 2026 Income Cap: $2,982 Per Month

Florida runs an income-cap Medicaid program for long-term care. In 2026, the gross monthly income limit for a single applicant is $2,982. That number includes everything — Social Security, pensions, annuity payments, rental income, even interest earned on savings accounts. If your parent's gross income exceeds that cap by a single dollar, they are ineligible for Medicaid long-term care unless they establish a Qualified Income Trust (commonly called a Miller Trust).

This is a hard line, not a sliding scale. Florida does not allow medical-need spend-downs the way some states do. Your parent's actual medical expenses are irrelevant to the income determination — only gross income matters.

For married couples, the rules shift. The at-home spouse (the "community spouse") has their own income protections. In 2026, the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA) allows the community spouse to keep a portion of the couple's combined income — up to $4,067.00 per month — so they aren't impoverished by the Medicaid application.

The $2,000 Asset Limit

Countable assets for a single applicant cannot exceed $2,000 on the day of application. For married couples, the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) protects up to $162,660 in joint assets for the at-home spouse. Assets above these thresholds must be spent down before Medicaid will approve the application.

Countable assets include bank accounts, CDs, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, non-homestead real estate, and cash-value life insurance policies above $2,500 in face value. If your parent has money sitting in savings or brokerage accounts, those count dollar-for-dollar against the $2,000 limit.

What Florida Exempts

Several major asset categories are excluded from the countable-asset calculation:

The primary home is subject to a $752,000 equity cap. The home is exempt when occupied by a spouse, minor child, or disabled child. If your parent lives elsewhere or moves permanently to a memory care facility, confirm the exemption before relying on it.

One vehicle is exempt regardless of value. This is a straightforward exclusion — your parent's car, no matter what it's worth, does not count toward the $2,000 asset limit. Only one vehicle gets this treatment. A second car is a countable asset at fair market value.

Prepaid, irrevocable burial plans are fully exempt. This includes funeral home trusts, burial plots, headstones, and burial vaults. This is one of the most common (and legitimate) spend-down strategies — converting countable cash into an irrevocable funeral contract before applying for Medicaid.

Personal property and household goods are exempt. Furniture, clothing, appliances, jewelry worn daily — these don't count.

IRAs in payout status are treated differently depending on whether they're in regular periodic distribution. If your parent's IRA is paying out monthly, those payments count as income (toward the $2,982 cap) rather than as an asset. An IRA that's sitting untouched counts as a lump-sum asset.

What Catches Families Off Guard

Life insurance: Term life policies with no cash value are exempt. Whole life or universal life policies with cash surrender value above $2,500 in total face value are countable assets. Families often forget to check the cash value on old policies.

Annuities: Non-qualified annuities that aren't in payout status are countable. Annuities already paying out add to monthly income. The state of Florida must be named as a remainder beneficiary on certain annuities for Medicaid compliance.

The five-year lookback: Florida examines all financial transactions from the 60 months before the Medicaid application date. Gifts, transfers below fair market value, and moving money into someone else's name during that window trigger a transfer penalty — a calculated period during which Medicaid won't pay. The penalty divisor in 2026 is $10,645 per month.

The Qualified Income Trust Workaround

If your parent's income exceeds $2,982 per month, a QIT (Miller Trust) can address the income-cap issue, but other eligibility requirements still apply. The QIT is an irrevocable trust with a designated bank account. Each month, the applicant deposits the required income into the trust, and the trustee distributes the funds under Medicaid rules, including the $160 Personal Needs Allowance and any permitted spousal diversion; the remaining patient responsibility is paid to the care facility.

The QIT must be established and funded in the same month eligibility is requested. Retroactive funding is not allowed. The trust must also name the state of Florida as the remainder beneficiary up to the amount Medicaid has paid out.

Our Florida Dementia Care Guide includes a QIT monthly funding worksheet and a bank letter template for opening the trust account — the two documents that trip up most families trying to handle this without an attorney.

Next Steps

Start by pulling together your parent's financial picture: gross monthly income from all sources, a list of every bank and investment account with current balances, the cash value of any life insurance policies, and the equity in the primary residence. Run those numbers against the $2,982 income cap and $2,000 asset limit. If either number is over, you have planning work to do before filing the application.

The Florida Dementia & Memory Care Guide walks through the complete Medicaid financial worksheet, exempt-asset strategies, and the QIT setup process step by step.

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