Income cap and Qualified Income Trusts
For 2026, TennCare lists an LTSS income cap of $2,982 per month for one person. Tennessee therefore uses an income-cap structure for this pathway rather than offering a conventional long-term-care spend-down for income above that figure. TennCare LTSS Financial Rules Guide
TennCare’s QIT policy permits an otherwise qualifying person seeking nursing-facility or HCBS LTSS to use a valid Qualified Income Trust when gross income is over the limit. The trust must be irrevocable, must name the individual and Tennessee as its sole beneficiaries, and must provide Tennessee a remainder claim up to medical assistance paid. TennCare QIT policy
Married applicants have a separate resource assessment
For an institutional-Medicaid applicant with a community spouse, TennCare uses a resource assessment: a snapshot of countable assets held individually or jointly at the first period of continuous confinement. After the community spouse’s share is subtracted, the institutionalized person’s available resources must not exceed $2,000. TennCare Resource Assessment policy
CMS’s 2026 federal spousal-impoverishment bulletin sets the community-spouse resource range at $32,532 to $162,660. TennCare’s resource-assessment policy applies the spousal-share process, so the exact allowance depends on the snapshot facts and any hearing or court adjustment rather than simply assuming the maximum. TennCare Resource Assessment policy CMS 2026 spousal-impoverishment bulletin
Home equity and current figures
Tennessee’s State Plan elects the federal home-equity exclusion option beginning at $500,000 as indexed annually. The 2026 federal lower home-equity level is $752,000; a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child living in the home can change the home-equity result. Confirm TennCare’s current indexed application before relying on a home exclusion. Tennessee Medicaid State Plan Attachment 2.6-A CMS 2026 spousal-impoverishment bulletin
Because resource, income, home, and spousal rules interact, a Tennessee applicant should preserve current statements, deeds, valuations, trust documents, and the resource-assessment record rather than relying on a generic asset-limit chart. TennCare Resource Assessment policy TennCare QIT policy
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.
