Kentucky is an income-cap state for this pathway
Kentucky's 2026 special income standard is $2,982 per month. The manual explains that this standard is three times the SSI income limit and that gross income is compared with it when Medicaid eligibility is determined for a person admitted to long-term care (CHFS Volume IVA policy manual).
An applicant whose countable income is above the special income standard may use a Qualifying Income Trust, also called a Miller trust, if the trust meets Kentucky's requirements. The policy says the applicant must place the excess monthly income into the QIT; that excess is excluded for eligibility but remains part of the patient-liability calculation (CHFS Volume IVA policy manual; Kentucky QIT information).
A QIT is technical, not an ordinary savings account
Kentucky's trust regulation requires a QIT to be established in Kentucky, irrevocable, made up solely of the individual's income and accumulated interest, and to direct the remaining balance at death to the department up to Medicaid assistance paid. The account must be separate and cannot be commingled with another checking or savings account (907 KAR 20:030).
CHFS's consumer QIT sheet similarly says that a QIT may allow a person above the income standard to qualify when nursing-facility or waiver services are needed, while money placed in it remains relevant to the cost-of-care calculation (Kentucky QIT information).
Home equity and spousal protections need separate attention
For 2026, Kentucky's manual applies a $752,000 homestead-equity threshold. Its resource-assessment language says equity above that amount is excluded only when a community spouse, minor or dependent child, or disabled child resides in the home, so the living arrangement is essential to the analysis (CHFS Volume IVA policy manual).
The federal 2026 bulletin confirms that home-equity and spousal-impoverishment standards are indexed annually. A family should preserve statements, deeds, valuations, and the resource-assessment record and use the current Kentucky manual rather than relying on an older nursing-home fact sheet (CMS 2026 SSI and spousal-impoverishment bulletin; CHFS Volume IVA policy manual).
2026 eligibility figures: $2,000 individual resources · $4,000 for two aged, blind, or disabled people · $2,982 special income standard · $32,532–$162,660 CSRA · $752,000 home-equity threshold, subject to applicable exceptions (
CHFS Volume IVA policy manual).
Not mutually exclusive. Most families combine two or three funding pillars — this one rarely stands alone.
The
Journey Assessment ranks all ten pillars against your specific situation and
recommends the top three.
