Do You Actually Qualify for Medicaid in Kansas? What Most People Get Wrong

Do You Actually Qualify for Medicaid in Kansas? What Most People Get Wrong

The phone call Advanced Legal Planning gets most often from new clients is not about what Medicaid covers. It is about whether they can even qualify.

And almost every time, the family calling has already been told the wrong answer.

A state office told one client she was over the income limit and could not qualify. A facility told another family the same thing. In both cases, they were wrong. The firm was able to get those clients qualified — not through any loophole, but because the actual rules are more flexible than most people realize.

If someone has told you that you or a loved one makes too much or has too many assets to qualify for Kansas Medicaid, keep reading before you write it off.

The Income Limit Is Not the End of the Story

Yes, Kansas Medicaid has a published income limit. The attorney will tell you honestly that the firm does not spend much time focused on that number, because exceeding it does not automatically disqualify you.

There is a second test. If your income is below the cost of your care, you can still qualify even if you are over the income limit. In practical terms, that means a person receiving around $6,000 a month in income can qualify for Medicaid to cover a nursing home that costs $6,500 a month. The math works in their favor because their income does not exceed the cost of care.

This is where families get tripped up. They hear a number, assume it is a hard ceiling, and give up before calling an attorney. Facilities do this too. Their staff are not Medicaid attorneys, and they often apply the simplest rule without knowing the exceptions.

What Actually Counts as Income?

When Kansas Medicaid evaluates income, they look at what is coming in on a regular basis. That includes:

Social Security payments. Farm income or interest from privately held loans, divided into a monthly figure even if received annually. Rental income.

One important distinction: for a married couple, the community spouse's income does not affect the institutionalized spouse's ability to qualify. If your spouse is the one entering a facility, your income does not disqualify them. That surprises a lot of people.

Kansas treats IRAs differently depending on which spouse holds them. For the community spouse, required minimum distributions are counted as income — divided by 12 even if taken annually — but the asset behind the IRA is exempt. For the institutionalized spouse, the IRA is treated as a countable asset that must be liquidated. Kansas does not look at it as an income source; the entire account is counted as belonging to the couple and must be addressed before Medicaid will approve eligibility. That distinction is meaningful, and it is one of the reasons IRA planning is such an important part of the Medicaid conversation.

Exempt vs. Countable: How Medicaid Looks at Your Assets

When you apply for Medicaid, every asset you own gets sorted into one of two categories: exempt or countable.

Exempt assets do not affect your eligibility. Countable assets do, and Medicaid will expect them to be spent down before it steps in.

What is typically exempt:

Your primary home (subject to estate recovery rules — this is a separate conversation worth having). One vehicle — if you have multiple, the most expensive one is exempt. Personal property like household furnishings, jewelry, and everyday items. Income-producing property in certain circumstances, especially when held in the community spouse's name. The asset behind an IRA for the community spouse.

What is typically countable:

Cash, checking and savings accounts. Additional vehicles. Investment accounts. Collectibles or items held as investments — a classic car that has been appreciating, artwork purchased as an investment, anything Medicaid would view as an asset rather than personal property. If you sell an exempt asset and convert it to cash, that cash becomes countable. That is a common mistake families make without realizing the consequence.

The line between exempt and countable is not always obvious, and how assets are titled matters enormously. Income-producing property held in a community spouse's name can be exempt for qualification purposes and protected from estate recovery. The same property titled in the institutionalized spouse's name may create a very different outcome.

Trusts and the Five-Year Lookback

Many families have heard that putting assets in a trust protects them for Medicaid purposes. That is partially true and partially a dangerous oversimplification.

A revocable trust — the kind most estate planning attorneys set up — does not protect assets from Medicaid. The assets in a revocable trust are still counted.

An irrevocable trust can protect assets, but only if it is drafted very carefully with Medicaid planning in mind. And there is a catch: transferring assets into an irrevocable trust is treated as a gift. That triggers the five-year lookback period, meaning Medicaid will look back five years from the date of your application and assess a penalty for any gifts made during that window.

The penalty is calculated based on the value of assets transferred. This is why pre-planning while you are healthy gives you the most options. Once you are already in crisis, the lookback limits what can be done — though there are still strategies available even then.

What Happens When You Apply

The Medicaid application process is more demanding than most families expect. Facilities will sometimes offer to handle the application on your behalf, usually at no charge. The firm has seen enough of those to know that well-meaning facility staff frequently make errors that result in denials or delays — and a delayed application during a period of private-pay care at $8,000 a month or more is an expensive mistake.

Skilled nursing facilities operate under a "Medicaid pending" system, meaning they can accept a resident while the application is being processed with the expectation of retroactive payment. Assisted living facilities are different. They typically require a period of private pay before they will accept Medicaid — sometimes four months, sometimes as long as three years depending on the facility. Understanding that distinction matters when you are choosing where a loved one will live.

Advanced Legal Planning works with a professional company specifically for Medicaid applications. They are also placement specialists who know the facilities across Kansas, what each one requires, and how to negotiate when circumstances allow. That relationship exists because getting the application right the first time matters.

You May Have More Options Than You Think

The biggest obstacle most families face is not the rules themselves. It is not knowing that the rules have more room in them than they were told.

If a facility, a state office, or anyone else has told you that you or a loved one does not qualify for Kansas Medicaid, that answer deserves a second opinion from an elder law attorney who works in this space every day.

Advanced Legal Planning is led by attorney Mark A. Galloway, who holds dual LL.M. degrees in Elder Law from the University of Kansas and Tax from Boston University. The firm has spent years helping Kansas families understand what the rules actually say — and what options still exist even when someone tells them there are none.

Ready to find out where you actually stand? Call Advanced Legal Planning at (316) 252-2233 or schedule a consultation online. Virtual meetings available.