New Choices Waiver Income and Asset Limits Explained

The New Choices Waiver runs on Medicaid's financial rules, and those rules are where many families either qualify more easily than they feared or get tripped up by a number they did not see coming. Knowing the limits up front turns guesswork into a plan. To qualify for the New Choices Waiver in 2026, a single applicant generally needs monthly income under about $2,982 and countable assets under $2,000, though a home, one car, and personal belongings usually do not count, and spend-down or spousal rules help those who are over.

This guide breaks down the income cap, which assets count and which are exempt, what to do if you are over, and how spousal protections work.

New Choices Waiver Income and Asset Limits

The waiver uses the same long-term care Medicaid limits as nursing home coverage. These figures change each year, so treat them as the 2026 numbers and confirm the current ones before relying on them.

The income cap is set at 300 percent of the federal benefit rate. The asset limit is strikingly low at $2,000, but as the next sections explain, many of a person's most valuable assets do not count toward it.

What Counts as Income

Income is mostly what arrives each month. Social Security, pensions, annuity payments, and withdrawals taken as regular income all count toward the monthly cap.

If income exceeds the cap, the person is not automatically disqualified. Utah, like many states, allows a tool such as a qualified income trust, sometimes called a Miller trust, that holds income above the limit so the person can still qualify. That route should be set up with an elder law attorney, since the rules are exact.

A quick illustration helps: someone receiving $2,400 a month in Social Security plus a small pension stays under the cap and qualifies on income. Someone with $3,200 a month is over the limit, but a qualified income trust can hold the excess each month so they still meet the rule. The trust does not make the extra money disappear; it directs it toward care under Medicaid's terms.

Which Assets Count, and Which Are Exempt

The $2,000 asset limit sounds impossible until you see how much is excluded. Medicaid divides assets into countable and exempt.

Countable assets: Bank and investment accounts, cash, a second vehicle, and non-residence real estate generally count toward the $2,000 limit. Exempt assets: The primary home up to the equity limit, one vehicle, personal belongings and household goods, and a prepaid irrevocable funeral plan usually do not count. Often exempt: Certain life insurance with low face value and some other protected items may also be excluded.

Because the line between countable and exempt is where eligibility is won or lost, it is worth listing every asset before applying rather than assuming the total is too high. A family that totals up a home, a car, and a bank account and panics is often surprised to learn that only the bank account counts, which can put them much closer to the limit than they expected.

What If You Are Over the Limit?

Being over the asset limit is common and rarely the end of the road. A planned Medicaid spend down lets a person use excess assets on legitimate needs, such as care, home repairs, a reliable vehicle, or a prepaid funeral, until they reach the limit.

What matters is doing this correctly, since simply giving money away to get under the limit can trigger a look-back penalty that delays eligibility, so a spend-down should be deliberate and documented. Our guide to how families pay for senior care shows how spend-down fits the larger funding plan.

Spousal Protections for Married Couples

When only one spouse needs care, federal rules protect the other so they are not left destitute. These protections can be substantial.

The community spouse, the one staying home, can keep a share of the couple's countable assets, up to about $162,660 in 2026, beyond the $2,000 the applicant keeps. They may also keep a minimum monthly income, drawing from the applicant's income if their own is low. These spousal figures also change yearly, so a married couple should confirm them rather than assume they have too much to qualify.

The Room-and-Board Reality

One number the limits do not address is rent. The waiver covers care services, not room and board, so a person's monthly income, the same income measured against the cap, is what pays the assisted living rent.

That makes the income side a double-edged figure. It must stay under the cap to qualify, yet it also has to be enough to cover the room and board portion of assisted living for the move to be sustainable. Mapping that balance is part of planning the move, as our comparison of the waiver and traditional Medicaid explains.

Practical Next Steps

1. List every source of monthly income and compare the total to the roughly $2,982 cap.
2. Inventory all assets, separating countable accounts from exempt items like the home and one car.
3. If over the asset limit, plan a documented spend-down rather than giving assets away.
4. For a married couple, calculate the community spouse's protected share before applying.
5. Confirm the current year's figures with Utah Medicaid or an elder law attorney.

When to Talk to a Local Advisor

The financial limits decide eligibility, but the move only works if the income left over actually covers room and board at a real community. A local senior advisor can match those numbers to Utah communities that accept the waiver, so the plan holds together financially. The service is free to families.

For the full program, see how the New Choices Waiver works and who qualifies. Federal Medicaid financial rules are detailed at Medicaid.gov.

This article is informational only and is not legal or financial advice. Medicaid income, asset, and spousal figures cited reflect 2026 data and change yearly. Confirm current limits with Utah Medicaid or an elder law attorney before making decisions.