About Us
Medicaid Answers is a free educational resource published by Medicaid Answers Foundation. We help families understand how Medicaid can pay for long-term care.
Who We Are
Many people expect Medicare to pay for a long nursing home stay. In fact, Medicare covers at most 100 days of skilled nursing facility care per benefit period, after a qualifying hospital stay, and from day 21 there is a daily coinsurance ($217 a day in 2026).
There’s a lot of misunderstanding about what Medicaid is and how it helps people who need long-term care. Many people think Medicaid is only for people with very low incomes.
The truth is, Medicaid can help pay for long-term care and does not require the patient or the patient’s spouse to be completely broke.
To receive help from Medicaid with long-term care costs, a person generally has to reduce their “countable” assets below a limit. In most states the limit is $2,000 for a single person. The rules are more involved for married couples: the spouse who stays at home can keep a share of the couple’s assets, up to a maximum set each year.
Some assets are exempt and don’t have to be spent down. Others can, within the rules, be converted into exempt assets. Learning how these rules work, and using them, is what people mean by Medicaid planning.
That sounds simple, but the details can be complicated.
Which assets are safe? How can assets be converted without causing a penalty? The answers depend on your state’s rules, and the guides on this site walk through them step by step.
Many families work through these questions on their own, often while a loved one is already in care.
You don’t have to figure it out alone. Our free guides explain each step, and you can send a question through our contact form.
Our Mission
Medicaid Answers Foundation is a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to help older adults, families and caregivers understand how Medicaid can pay for long-term care in nursing homes, in assisted living and at home.
Medicaid Answers is the Foundation’s free educational resource. The guides are free to read, and questions sent through the contact form are answered free of charge.
What You’ll Find Here
Medicaid Answers explains the Long-Term Care Medicaid rules in plain language: who is eligible, how income and assets are counted, how the 5-year look-back works, what protections exist for a spouse at home, and how each state runs its program. You’ll also find guides on nursing homes, assisted living and care at home. Figures are last updated for 2026.
Have a question? Send it through our contact form and we’ll point you in the right direction.