Georgia Medicaid Asset Limit: What Counts, What's Exempt, and How to Qualify

Georgia sets the Medicaid countable asset limit at $2,000 for a single applicant seeking long-term care — one of the strictest thresholds in the country. But the number alone is misleading because it tells you nothing about what counts and what doesn't. Understanding the exemptions is what separates families who qualify from families who panic and make expensive mistakes.

What Counts Toward the $2,000 Limit

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) counts all liquid and accessible resources: checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, stocks, mutual funds, bonds, real estate beyond the primary home, and cryptocurrency. If your parent can access it or convert it to cash, DFCS counts it.

What's Exempt

The exemption list is where most families find breathing room:

Primary home: Exempt up to $752,000 in equity (2026 CMS threshold), provided the applicant intends to return or a spouse or dependent relative lives there. This is the biggest exemption — most Georgia families' largest asset stays protected.

One primary vehicle: Fully exempt regardless of value.

Household furnishings and personal effects: Exempt.

Irrevocable burial trust: Exempt up to $10,000 per person. Prepaying a funeral contract is one of the simplest and most common spend-down strategies.

Retirement accounts (IRAs, 401ks): Exempt only if in active "payout status" — meaning the applicant takes Required Minimum Distributions monthly. The principal becomes exempt, but each monthly distribution counts toward the gross income test. If the account is not in payout status, the entire balance counts as a countable asset.

The Qualified Income Trust (Georgia's Income Fix)

Georgia's gross monthly income limit for Medicaid long-term care is $2,982 in 2026. If your parent's Social Security, pension, and other income exceeds this, they're disqualified — unless they establish a Qualified Income Trust (QIT), also called a Miller Trust.

The QIT is a dedicated bank account where income exceeding $2,982 is deposited each month. That deposited income no longer counts toward the Medicaid income limit. The trustee must disburse the funds monthly for allowable expenses: the personal needs allowance, the care facility cost-share, health insurance premiums, or the spousal maintenance allowance.

Setting up a QIT requires a written, irrevocable trust document. Many families handle this with an elder law attorney ($300 to $800 for the document), though the statutory language is straightforward. The trust must include a provision naming Georgia as the priority beneficiary for remaining funds at the applicant's death, up to the total Medicaid benefits paid.

The 60-Month Look-Back: What Triggers Penalties

DFCS reviews all financial transactions from the five years preceding the Medicaid application. Any asset transferred for less than fair market value — gifts to children, below-market property sales, charitable donations — triggers a penalty period during which your parent is ineligible for Medicaid-funded care.

The penalty calculation uses Georgia's 2026 divisor of $11,122 per month. A $50,000 gift creates approximately 4.5 months of ineligibility. During those months, the family pays the full private-pay rate — averaging $8,821 per month for nursing home care.

The penalty period doesn't start when the gift was made. It starts when the applicant has applied for Medicaid, is otherwise eligible, and is in or approved for a long-term care setting. This timing trap means the financial consequence hits at the worst possible moment.

Does Medicaid Take Your Parent's House?

Not during their lifetime. Georgia does not place liens on a Medicaid recipient's home while they're alive. The home remains exempt as long as a spouse, dependent relative, or the applicant (with intent to return) resides there.

After death, Georgia's Medicaid Estate Recovery Program can seek reimbursement from the probate estate for long-term care costs paid. But key exemptions apply:

• Surviving spouse: No recovery while the spouse is alive
• Child under 21: Recovery is delayed
• Disabled child of any age: Recovery is delayed
• Caregiver child exemption: If an adult child lived in the home for at least two years immediately before the parent's institutional placement and provided care that delayed that placement, the home can be transferred penalty-free
• Sibling equity exemption: A sibling with an equity interest who lived in the home for at least one year before the parent's placement can receive a penalty-free transfer
• Estates under $25,000: Georgia waives recovery for estates with a gross value at or below this threshold

These exemptions are powerful but require documentation. The caregiver child exemption, for example, requires proof of co-residence and care provision — medical records, utility bills, and physician statements establishing that your care delayed nursing home placement.

The Georgia Home Care, Waivers & Support Guide includes an asset inventory worksheet and spend-down strategy planner that helps you map your parent's financial situation against Medicaid eligibility requirements, identify which assets are exempt, and plan compliant strategies before you meet with an attorney.

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