Ohio Medicare Savings Program Asset Limits 2026
2026 Resource Limits
Ohio's Medicare Savings Programs (QMB, SLMB, and QI) share the same resource limits, adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index:
- Single individual: $9,950
- Married couple: $14,910
QDWI uses lower limits: $4,000 single and $6,000 couple.
These limits apply to countable resources — liquid and non-liquid assets the applicant can access. What matters is what Ohio excludes from the count, because the exclusions are where most applicants' anxiety is misplaced.
What Ohio Does Not Count
Your home. The primary residence, including surrounding land, is excluded with no equity cap for Medicare Savings Programs. You could own a home worth $500,000 and still qualify, as long as it's your principal place of residence.
One vehicle. One motor vehicle is excluded regardless of value, as long as it's used for transportation by the applicant or a household member. Additional vehicles count at fair market value minus what's owed on them.
Household goods and personal effects. Excluded entirely — furniture, clothing, jewelry, appliances.
Burial arrangements. Irrevocable pre-need burial contracts are excluded in full. Revocable burial contracts or designated burial funds are excluded up to $1,500 per person. Burial space items (plots, caskets, vaults) are excluded without dollar limits.
Life insurance. Term life policies with no cash value are excluded. Whole life policies are excluded if total face value across all policies is $1,500 or less. Above that threshold, the cash surrender value counts.
Retirement accounts in payout status. IRAs, 401(k)s, and Keogh plans are excluded if regular distributions are being taken — those distributions count as income instead. Inaccessible balances or accounts requiring full liquidation with penalties are evaluated case by case.
Joint Accounts and Spousal Resources
Joint bank accounts are presumed to belong entirely to the MPAP applicant. If your adult child is a co-signer on a parent's checking account, the full balance counts against the parent's resource limit unless the parent can document that funds belong to the co-owner.
For married couples living together, both spouses' income and resources are combined and measured against the couple limits. If legally separated or living apart, spousal deeming ends the month after separation, and the individual limits apply.
An adult child's resources are never counted toward a parent's eligibility, even under the same roof.
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Lump Sums and Retroactive Payments
If your parent receives a lump-sum payment — an inheritance, insurance settlement, or retroactive Social Security adjustment — it counts as income in the month received. Any unspent portion becomes a resource on the first day of the next month.
Retroactive Social Security payments get a nine-month grace period: they're excluded from resource counting for nine calendar months after the month received. This matters especially after the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, which triggered retroactive adjustments for many Ohio public-sector retirees.
For a complete asset worksheet and documentation checklist showing exactly what to gather before applying, see the Ohio Medicare Savings Programs & Extra Help Guide.
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