New York Medicaid Resource Limit 2026

The 2026 Numbers

For adults with disabilities in New York applying for Non-MAGI Medicaid (the Aged, Blind, or Disabled category, which does not use Modified Adjusted Gross Income rules) — the category that funds OPWDD Home and Community-Based Services, personal care assistance, and long-term supports — the 2026 financial limits are:

Resource limits:

• Individual: $33,038
• Couple: $44,796

Monthly income limits (138% of Federal Poverty Level):

• Individual: $1,836
• Two-person household: $2,489

These figures come from the New York State Department of Health's annual update to the Non-MAGI Aged, Blind, or Disabled (ABD) eligibility standards, which adjust each January based on federal poverty level calculations.

What Counts as a Resource

Medicaid counts resources (also called assets) that the applicant could convert to cash and use for living expenses. The list includes:

• Bank accounts (checking and savings)
• Cash on hand
• Stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
• Certificates of deposit
• Secondary vehicles (the first one is exempt)
• Real property other than the primary residence
• Life insurance with a face value above $1,500 (the cash surrender value is countable)
• Retirement accounts that the individual can access (see below for nuances)

The local Department of Social Services — or the NYC Human Resources Administration in the five boroughs — reviews these assets during the Medicaid application and at each annual renewal.

What Doesn't Count

Several categories of assets are fully exempt from the resource calculation:

• Primary residence: The home the individual lives in, regardless of value.
• One vehicle: No value limit on the primary vehicle.
• Personal belongings and household goods: Furniture, clothing, electronics.
• ABLE account balances up to $100,000: Funds held in a New York ABLE account are excluded from the SSI $2,000 resource limit and from the Medicaid resource calculation, up to $100,000.
• Burial funds: Up to $1,500 per person set aside in a separate, designated burial fund account. Irrevocable burial trusts and pre-paid funeral contracts are fully exempt regardless of value.
• Term life insurance: Policies without cash surrender value.
• Special needs trusts: Both first-party (self-settled) and third-party supplemental needs trusts established in compliance with 42 USC § 1396p are excluded from countable resources.
• Pooled trust sub-accounts: Income deposited into a pooled trust is not counted as either income or a resource.

The SSI Resource Limit Is Different

A point of confusion: the SSI resource limit ($2,000 for an individual, $3,000 for a couple) is far stricter than the Medicaid resource limit in New York. An individual who receives SSI automatically qualifies for Medicaid under Section 1634 of the Social Security Act — they never have to meet the $33,038 Medicaid resource test separately.

But if an individual doesn't receive SSI — either because their SSI was denied at the age-18 redetermination or because their income is too high for SSI — they can still qualify for Medicaid independently under the Non-MAGI ABD standard. That's where the $33,038 resource limit applies. It's considerably more generous than the SSI limit, which means many people who lose SSI eligibility can still maintain Medicaid.

How to Stay Under the Limit

For a young adult with a developmental disability transitioning to adult benefits at age 18, the $33,038 resource limit is usually not an immediate problem. Most 18-year-olds don't have $33,000 in countable assets. But over time — through savings, gifts from family, inheritance, personal injury settlements, or back-pay from delayed benefit awards — resources can creep toward the limit.

Three strategies prevent resources from threatening Medicaid eligibility:

NY ABLE account: Deposit up to $20,000 per year (2026 limit) into a New York ABLE account. The first $100,000 is invisible to both SSI and Medicaid resource calculations. If the ABLE balance exceeds $100,000, SSI cash benefits are suspended but Medicaid continues.

Pooled income trust: If excess monthly income is the problem (above $1,836), a pooled trust eliminates it from the income calculation entirely. This doesn't directly affect resource limits, but it prevents excess income from accumulating into countable savings.

Third-party special needs trust: For larger amounts — inheritances, life insurance proceeds, litigation settlements intended for the individual — a third-party SNT funded by family members keeps those assets entirely outside the Medicaid resource test. Unlike ABLE accounts and pooled trusts, third-party SNTs have no Medicaid payback requirement upon the beneficiary's death.

The December 2025 Medicaid Reform

A significant change took effect on December 23, 2025: New York eliminated the longstanding requirement that Medicaid applicants maximize all other available income sources as a condition of eligibility. Previously, the state could require individuals to take early Social Security retirement benefits, draw down retirement accounts, and apply for every possible public benefit before approving Medicaid. This often forced families to drain assets and accept permanently reduced Social Security benefits.

Under the new rule, applicants are no longer required to pursue these additional income sources. Taking the IRS-required minimum distribution from retirement accounts is sufficient to protect the remaining balance. This reform has practical implications for families where a parent's retirement assets might otherwise have been forced into liquidation as part of a disabled adult child's Medicaid planning.

Income vs. Resources: The Distinction That Matters

Families sometimes conflate income limits with resource limits, leading to unnecessary panic. An individual can have $30,000 in a savings account (under the $33,038 resource limit) and $800 in monthly SSI income (under the $1,836 income limit) and qualify for Medicaid without issue.

The problems arise at the margins: when monthly income above the limit accumulates into savings that push resources above the limit, or when a one-time windfall (a tax refund, a retroactive SSI payment, a gift) temporarily pushes assets past the threshold. The New York SSI at 18 & Adult Disability Benefits Guide includes a Medicaid Protection Checklist that walks through both the income and resource calculations, identifies which assets are countable, and maps the timing of deposits into ABLE accounts or trusts to prevent eligibility disruptions.

Understanding these limits matters most during the transition year — the 12 months after the young adult turns 18 — when multiple benefit systems are changing simultaneously and a miscalculation on one can cascade through the others.

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