North Dakota Medicare Savings Program Asset Limits: What Counts and What's Excluded
The 2026 Resource Limits
North Dakota's Medicare Savings Programs (QMB, SLMB, QI) use the same resource ceiling across all three tiers: $9,950 for an individual and $14,910 for a couple. These figures are tied to the federal Part D Low-Income Subsidy standard and adjust annually for inflation.
Resources are measured as of the first day of the month being evaluated.
What Doesn't Count Toward the Limit
The exclusion list is broader than most families expect. Many parents who think they're over the asset limit aren't once the exemptions apply.
Primary residence. Your parent's home is fully excluded regardless of its market value, as long as they live there or intend to return. Under North Dakota rules, rural homesteads include up to 160 contiguous acres; urban homesteads cover up to two acres within city limits. Temporary absences (hospitalization, rehab stays) don't break the exclusion if your parent plans to go home.
One vehicle. One motor vehicle is completely excluded regardless of what it's worth, as long as it's used for transportation by the applicant or a household member.
Personal property. Clothing, household goods, furniture, and personal effects are all excluded.
Burial funds. Up to $1,500 per person in a designated burial fund is excluded from countable resources. Alternatively, irrevocable burial contracts and prepaid burial spaces for the applicant and immediate family are excluded without dollar caps.
Mineral rights. This matters in North Dakota. Non-producing mineral acres are excluded if the owner has made a good-faith effort to sell — demonstrated by offering the rights to at least three local buyers or through public advertising. Royalties from producing leases count as unearned income in the month received, but the mineral interest itself stays excluded.
Agricultural property. Machinery, farm equipment, livestock, and harvested produce kept for seed or feed are excluded as property essential to earning a livelihood, provided your parent is actively farming. Land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) also qualifies under this provision.
Tribal trust assets. Trust or restricted Indian lands, per capita funds, and Indian Claims Commission judgment funds held in trust are excluded under federal law, as long as they aren't mixed with countable liquid assets.
What Does Count
Countable resources include checking and savings accounts, CDs, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, non-exempt real property (a second home or investment land), and additional vehicles beyond the first.
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The Joint Account Trap
When a parent lives with an adult child and they share a bank account, North Dakota presumes the entire balance belongs to the parent unless there's clear documentation showing which funds the adult child contributed. Keep separate accounts if possible, or maintain records of deposits.
An adult child's income and assets are never deemed to the parent for MSP purposes — only joint accounts create ambiguity.
MSP Asset Rules vs. Long-Term Care Medicaid
These are different programs with different rules. The MSP resource limit is $9,950 for an individual. Long-term care Medicaid uses a $3,000 individual limit and applies transfer-of-asset penalties (the 60-month look-back period). MSP screening does not apply those transfer penalties or spousal impoverishment rules.
The North Dakota Medicare Savings Programs & Extra Help Guide includes an asset inventory worksheet that walks through every exclusion category, so you can tally countable resources accurately before applying.
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