Medical eligibility and records
DHHS uses a medical-eligibility process for long-term care. For CFI, current guidance describes a registered nurse’s functional assessment using the Medical Eligibility Assessment tool and treats help with at least two listed activities of daily living as nursing-facility-level care; a nursing-facility applicant should likewise obtain the current DHHS assessment instructions rather than rely on a diagnosis alone (CFI medical-eligibility guide; DHHS medical eligibility).
Financial documentation matters because the long-term-services checklist asks for evidence of income, resources, and prior-period ownership. A nursing facility may assist with paperwork, but applicants should retain copies of every submission and every DHHS request (NH Care Collaborative LTSS checklist).
The $90 personal-needs allowance
New Hampshire’s published 2026 personal-needs guidance states that a Medicaid long-term-care resident may retain $90 per month for personal spending and says the amount increased from $74 to $90 effective July 1, 2025 under RSA 167:27-a. The balance of income is generally considered in the cost-of-care calculation after permitted deductions (2026 NH personal-needs guide; RSA 167:27-a).
The allowance is not a separate cash benefit or a substitute for a spouse’s allocation. Medicare premiums and a permitted spousal-income allowance can require different calculations, so patient liability should be reviewed from the actual approval budget.
Nursing-facility snapshot: DHHS financial eligibility plus DHHS medical eligibility; published 2026 individual figures of $2,500 in resources and $2,982 monthly income; and a $90 monthly personal-needs allowance.
The resident’s cost share may change with income, Medicare premiums, a community-spouse allowance, and other approved deductions. Request the written budget and compare it with the current approval notice rather than accepting a verbal estimate from a facility (He-W eligibility rules).
The $90 allowance is a monthly retention amount, not a guarantee that the resident will retain income up to the full eligibility cap. The individual cost-of-care budget determines the remaining obligation after allowed deductions (2026 personal-needs guide).
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.
