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Title 8: Medicaid Page 17 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Employees’ Manual Chapter D: Resources Attribution of Resources Revised September 13, 2024 Processing a Medicaid Application After…

Mr. Z enters a nursing facility on May 22, 1994. Mrs. Z files a Medicaid application for him in September 1995. She lists resources of their homestead, one car, a $20,000 CD, a checking account of $55,000, and $5,000 in a savings account. When Mr. Z entered the facility, the Zs owned the following resources: their homestead, one car, $60,000 in CDs, a checking account of $65,000, and $15,000 in a savings account. Of these resources, the following items are used in completing the attribution: $ 60,000 65,000 + 15,000 $140,000 CDs Checking account Savings account Total resources The worker divides $140,000 by two, which equals $70,000. This amount is attributed to each spouse. When determining Mr. Z’s eligibility, the worker uses the Zs’ resources at the time of application: $ 20,000 55,000 + 5,000 $ 80,000 CD Checking account Savings account Total resources The worker then subtracts the community spouse resource allowance ($70,000 for Mrs. Z) from the total resources. This leaves $10,000 available for Mr. Z. He is not resource-eligible for Medicaid payment of nursing facility care. The attributed amount protected for the community spouse is maintained from the month of entry through the initial determination of the institutionalized spouse’s Medicaid eligibility. Even if the total resources have increased or decreased by the time the spouse applied for Medicaid, the amount protected for the community spouse is the value of the resources attributed when the other spouse entered the institution. However, if resources attributed to the community spouse are below the minimum allowance, and the couple later acquires resources that were not counted for attribution, these resources can be transferred to the community spouse to bring that spouse’s resources up to the minimum.