PA 600 LTC Application: How to Apply for Medicaid Long-Term Care in Pennsylvania

What the PA 600L Is

The PA 600L is the formal financial application for long-term care Medical Assistance in Pennsylvania. It's the document that determines whether your parent qualifies for Medicaid-funded nursing home care or Community HealthChoices waiver home care. Everything else — the clinical assessment, the IEB enrollment call, the MCO selection — follows from this financial determination.

The PA 600L is separate from the regular PA 600 Medicaid application used for healthcare coverage. The "L" designates long-term care, and the form collects the additional financial detail (asset inventories, transfer histories, spousal assessments) that the County Assistance Office needs to evaluate nursing home and waiver eligibility.

Three Ways to Submit

Online through COMPASS. The COMPASS portal (compass.state.pa.us) lets you create an account, complete the application electronically, and upload supporting documents. This is the fastest submission method and creates a timestamped record of your filing date.

Paper application. Download the PA 600L from the DHS website or pick up a copy from your local County Assistance Office. Complete it by hand, attach copies of all supporting documents, and mail or hand-deliver it to the County Assistance Office in the county where the nursing home or care facility is located — not necessarily where the parent lived before admission.

Phone. Call the DHS Consumer Service Center at 1-866-550-4355 to initiate the application by phone. A caseworker walks through the questions and records the answers, but you'll still need to submit all supporting documents separately.

Regardless of the method, the filing date matters to the eligibility determination. Submit the application promptly and ask the County Assistance Office how the effective date will apply to your parent's case, because delay can extend the period of private-pay nursing home charges.

Documents the County Assistance Office Requires

The verification checklist is extensive, and incomplete submissions are the single most common reason applications stall or get denied. Gather everything before you file:

Income documentation (last 60 days):

• Social Security award letter (SSA-1099 or benefit verification letter)
• Pension statements from all sources
• IRA or annuity distribution statements
• Any other income (rental, investment dividends, interest)

Asset documentation (current):

• Last three months of statements for every bank account (checking, savings, CDs, money market)
• Brokerage and investment account statements
• Life insurance policies (face value and cash surrender value)
• Vehicle titles
• Property deeds for any real estate owned
• Burial fund or pre-paid funeral documentation

60-month financial history:

• Five full years of bank statements from every account the parent held — including accounts that were closed during the period
• Records of any gifts, transfers, or asset sales made during the lookback window
• Documentation of any trust the parent created, funded, or was a beneficiary of

Spousal assessment (if married):

• Form PA-1572 (Resource Assessment Form) — this should ideally be filed separately as soon as the parent is admitted to establish the "snapshot" date for the Community Spouse Resource Allowance
• Community spouse's income documentation (though the spouse's income isn't counted for eligibility, it's needed for the MMNA deflection calculation)

Identity and other:

• Photo ID
• Social Security card or proof of number
• Proof of Pennsylvania residency
• Medicare card(s)
• Health insurance information
• Copy of any durable power of attorney being used to file on the parent's behalf

The 45-Day Processing Rule

By Pennsylvania regulation, the County Assistance Office has 45 calendar days from receipt of a completed application to issue a decision — approval, denial, or a request for additional information. "Completed" is the key word: missing required documentation can leave the application incomplete for this processing timeline and extend the period before a determination.

This is why submitting a complete package matters so much. A missing bank statement or an unclear transfer explanation can push the determination past the 45-day window, extending the period during which the family pays privately.

What Happens While the Application Is Pending

While the PA 600L is being processed, the parent is in "Medicaid pending" status. During this period:

• The nursing home cannot discharge the parent solely because Medicaid payment has not been authorized
• The parent (or family) is expected to pay the calculated "patient pay liability" — the parent's income minus the $60 personal needs allowance — directly to the facility each month
• If the family cannot pay the patient liability during the pending period, the nursing home may issue invoices that become collectible debt

Pending periods typically run 30 to 90 days depending on the complexity of the financial picture and how quickly the family responds to verification requests.

Avoiding the Most Common Delays

Start gathering bank statements early. Requesting five years of statements from multiple banks takes time. Some institutions charge fees for archived statements. Begin collecting them as soon as long-term care becomes a possibility, not after the parent is already in a nursing home.

Explain every large transaction. The County Assistance Office reviews five years of bank activity looking for uncompensated transfers. If they find a $5,000 check to a grandchild or a $20,000 withdrawal with no clear purpose, they'll request an explanation. Proactively include written explanations for any transaction that could look like a gift.

File the PA-1572 spousal assessment immediately. For married couples, the snapshot date determines how much the community spouse gets to keep. Delaying this form means the asset calculation may use a less favorable date.

The Pennsylvania Paying for Care Guide includes a complete Application Document Checklist organized by the exact categories the County Assistance Office uses, along with a 60-month financial records tracker — so families can systematically compile everything the caseworker will ask for before the first submission.

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