South Carolina Medicaid Asset Limits

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: South Carolina

South Carolina's published long-term-care resource standards

The SCDHHS long-term-care manual states that an institutionalized individual must have countable resources of $2,000 or less. CMS’s 2026 standards document separately lists the federal SSI resource standard as $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for an eligible couple. The federal couple figure is a baseline, not a substitute for South Carolina's married long-term-care assessment and community-spouse policy (SCDHHS MPPM Chapter 304; CMS 2026 SSI and Medicaid standards).

Countable-resource treatment is not the same as a simple account balance. Ownership, availability, exclusions, spouse status, and the date on which a period of institutionalization begins can affect the analysis. The state’s manual has separate provisions for an institutionalized person and for a spouse who remains in the community, so a married applicant should request a complete spousal-resource assessment rather than rely on an individual limit alone (SCDHHS MPPM Chapter 304).

Income cap and Income Trust

For 2026, CMS lists the 300%-of-SSI amount as $2,982 per month. SCDHHS’s posted long-term-care manual describes South Carolina's special Medicaid cap as 300% of the current SSI federal benefit rate and says gross income must be at or below that cap unless an Income Trust is used. This makes South Carolina an income-cap state for the relevant nursing-home and waiver pathway (CMS 2026 SSI and Medicaid standards; SCDHHS MPPM Chapter 304).

The manual says that an Income Trust may be established for a person seeking nursing-home or HCBS coverage whose income exceeds the cap. Trust drafting and monthly administration are not do-it-yourself details: the state statute imposes beneficiary, distribution, and Medicaid-payback conditions on a qualifying trust. The financial calculation should be completed before money is moved, because not every source of money is trust-fundable income (South Carolina Code Section 44-6-720).

Home equity and the community spouse

The state manual currently displays a $688,000 home-equity figure for this eligibility context. This research did not locate a SCDHHS document updating that state-specific number for 2026, so $688,000 is the most recent verifiable posted state-manual figure rather than a figure to assume remains current. Obtain written confirmation of the live limit before selling, mortgaging, or retitling a residence (SCDHHS MPPM Chapter 304).

The same posted manual describes a $66,480 community-spouse share. Because federal spousal standards and state implementation can change, that posted number should likewise be confirmed for the couple’s assessment date. A home may be treated one way during eligibility and still require a later estate-recovery analysis, which is why eligibility planning and post-death planning should not be collapsed into one answer (SCDHHS MPPM Chapter 304; SCDHHS Estate Recovery).

Published figures to verify: $2,000 individual resources; $3,000 federal SSI couple resources; $2,982 monthly income cap for 2026; $66,480 posted community-spouse share; and $688,000 posted home equity. State manual figures must be checked against the current eligibility date (CMS 2026 standards; SCDHHS MPPM Chapter 304).

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South Carolina Medicaid Asset Limits

South Carolina's published long-term-care resource standards

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