Delaware Medicaid Look-Back Period

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: Delaware

Delaware applies the five-year transfer review

For long-term-care Medicaid applications and transfers on or after February 8, 2006, Delaware’s Medicaid long-term-care policy uses a look-back date 60 months before the baseline date. The baseline date is the first date on which the person is both institutionalized and applying for medical assistance; transfers after that baseline date can also be penalized if made for less than fair market value (Delaware Social Services Manual, transfer rules).

The policy treats an asset transfer broadly. It includes an asset sold, given away, placed in a trust, contributed to charity, or otherwise transferred by the individual or spouse, including some transfers made by another person acting on the individual’s or spouse’s behalf. Fair market value and actual tangible compensation must be documented; the manual says love and affection are not fair-market-value compensation (Delaware LTC transfer policy).

The 2026 Delaware penalty divisor

DMMA’s 2026 nursing-home private-pay-rate notice sets the statewide average daily private-pay nursing-facility cost at $439.84 and the average monthly cost at $13,378.33, effective January 1, 2026. The notice directs staff to use those figures for applications filed on or after January 1, 2026 when calculating a period of ineligibility (DMMA 2026 private-pay-rate notice).

The transfer policy describes the penalty as the total cumulative uncompensated value of transfers divided by Delaware’s average private-patient nursing-facility cost at the application time. For post-February 8, 2006 transfers, the penalty begins no earlier than the later of the transfer month or the date the person is otherwise eligible and receiving covered institutional-level care; it cannot overlap an existing penalty period (Delaware transfer-penalty formula).

Trusts, returns, and hardship require their own review

Delaware’s policy treats certain trust funding or payments as transfers and applies the 60-month look-back to those trust transfers. It also says returned assets can shorten or eliminate a penalty, but returned resources remain relevant to current financial eligibility (Delaware trust and returned-asset policy).

The policy recognizes a transfer undue-hardship waiver where applying the transfer rule would deprive a person of medical care endangering health or life, or of food, clothing, shelter, or other necessities. It requires notice of the waiver right and allows an LTC provider to file on the individual’s behalf with consent; this narrow relief is not a substitute for pre-transfer planning (Delaware undue-hardship policy).

2026 Delaware penalty figure: $13,378.33 per month, based on a $439.84 daily private-pay nursing-facility cost. Preserve five years of records before making any gift, below-value sale, or trust transaction (DMMA 2026 rate notice).

For the broader crisis-planning framework, see Crisis Planning / Half-a-Loaf. Ask a Delaware elder-law attorney to apply the current divisor and the exact transaction facts before any transfer is completed.

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Delaware applies the five-year transfer review

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