Illinois Medicaid Long-Term Care Figures
What are this year's Illinois spousal impoverishment, resource, home equity, and look-back figures, and how is a transfer penalty computed? Every piece below can be linked to, so it opens in a window on your reader's screen, current as of the record. No form to fill in.
2026 law · Reviewed September 4, 2026 · The full page, with methodology and sources · the terms · All tools
Embed the penalty-period calculator in your page
Transfers inside the look-back and the facility's monthly rate in; the penalty period out, computed the way the Illinois manual computes it. In a frame it carries no cookies, no tracking, and a visible link back to the methodology. Your site has to allow frames; most do. The link that opens it in a small window is on the professionals page.
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- In plain words.
- Medicaid pays for nursing-home care once a person's own money is mostly spent. Illinois looks back five years for gifts, and every gift creates a penalty: a stretch of months Medicaid will not pay, worked out by dividing the gifts by the nursing home's monthly rate. This tool shows the year's figures, including what a spouse still at home may keep, and computes that penalty period.
- Why it matters.
- Families often learn about the look-back after the gifts are made. Knowing the figures and the penalty math before a move into care is what an elder-law attorney's first meeting is for, and this gives you the numbers to bring.
- An example.
- Gifts of $50,000 in the look-back period, at a nursing home charging $7,500 a month, mean about six and two-thirds months during which Medicaid will not pay.
- Where it stops.
- It does not decide which transfers count as gifts or whether an exception applies, such as a transfer to a spouse or a disabled child. Those are the caseworker's and the attorney's questions.
The facts
Six quotable sentences, each from the state's or CMS's 2026 figures. Quote them with the year attached.
The button shows exactly what your reader sees when they click the link. Paste the link where a link goes; it opens this list in a small window, always current as of the record, with the attribution and a link to the full page. Nothing to copy out, nothing to update later.
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- In 2026, the community spouse of an Illinois nursing home resident may keep $143,172 of the couple's countable resources. Illinois sets its own standard, up from $135,648; the federal range is $32,532 to $162,660.
- The community spouse maintenance needs allowance is $4,066.50 a month in 2026. Illinois uses the federal maximum; income can be shifted from the resident spouse to bring the community spouse up to it.
- The home is exempt in 2026 up to $752,000 of equity, the federal minimum. The equity limit does not apply while a spouse or a dependent child lives in the home.
- An applicant may keep $17,500 in countable resources, one person or a couple, under Illinois's AABD Medical rules.
- The look-back is 60 months. A transfer for less than fair value inside it produces a penalty period equal to the amount transferred divided by the facility's own monthly private-pay rate, partial months included. Illinois has no statewide divisor for nursing homes.
- A nursing home resident keeps a personal needs allowance of $60 a month; a supportive living resident, $120.
The figures
Every figure on this page, with the federal floor and ceiling beside it so you can see where Illinois chose to sit.
The button shows exactly what your reader sees when they click the link. Paste the link where a link goes; it opens this table in a small window, always current as of the record, with the attribution and a link to the full page. Nothing to copy out, nothing to update later.
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| Figure | Illinois, 2026 | Federal range | Illinois's choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community spouse resource allowance | $143,172 | $32,532 to $162,660 | Its own standard |
| Community spouse maintenance needs allowance, monthly | $4,066.50 | $2,643.75 to $4,066.50 | The federal maximum |
| Home equity limit | $752,000 | $752,000 to $1,130,000 | The federal minimum |
| Applicant resource limit (AABD Medical) | $17,500 | State-set | One person or a couple |
| Personal needs allowance, nursing home, monthly | $60 | State-set ($30 federal floor) | In effect since January 1, 2024 |
| Personal needs allowance, supportive living, monthly | $120 | State-set | |
| Look-back period | 60 months | 60 months | Federal rule |
| Penalty divisor | The facility's monthly private-pay rate | State's choice of method | No statewide figure |
Cite and link.
The clean address, a citation generated from the record so it can never carry a stale review date, and an address for every section so you can point a reader at the exact table or method.
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- Link
- https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures
- Citation
- Considerate Capital, "Illinois Medicaid Long-Term Care Figures," reviewed September 4, 2026, https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures.
Link to a section
- The penalty-period calculator https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures#calculator
- The facts https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures#facts
- The figures https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures#key-numbers
- How the rules fit together https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures#how-it-works
- Worked examples https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures#examples
- Methodology https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures#methodology
- Sources https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures#sources
- Revision history https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-medicaid-long-term-care-figures#revision-history
Everything here reads from one reviewed record, so a copied piece carries its year and its review date. When the law moves, the embed updates by itself; a copied table or chart keeps the year in its caption. Corrections are welcome through the contact page.