Oregon Health Plan (OHP) Income Limits 2026 by Household

How much you can earn and still get the Oregon Health Plan (OHP), Oregon's Medicaid, depends on which kind of coverage you need. Most people qualify for regular OHP if their household income is at or below 138% of the federal poverty level, about $1,836 a month for one person in 2026, and there is no asset test.1,2 Long-term care works differently: it uses a hard cap of $2,982/month in countable income and a $2,000 asset limit, and going over the income line means putting all of your income into an Income Cap Trust to qualify.3

This guide gives the 2026 OHP income limits for both paths: first the regular OHP (MAGI) income limits by household size (the numbers most families are looking for), then the long-term-care rules for seniors and people with disabilities who need nursing-home or in-home waiver care: the $2,000 asset limit, the income cap and Income Cap Trust, what a nursing-home resident keeps, spousal protections, the five-year look-back, estate recovery, and how to apply through Oregon's ONE system.3

Regular OHP income limits in 2026: who qualifies under MAGI

For everyday health coverage (doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions), most Oregonians qualify for the Oregon Health Plan under MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income), a federal income test with no asset or resource limit. What matters is your household's monthly income measured against the federal poverty level (FPL). Oregon expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, so adults ages 19 to 64 qualify for full OHP at or below 138% of the FPL, about $1,836/month for one person or $2,489 for a household of two in 2026.1,2

For the adult (138% FPL) column, add $654 per month for each additional person beyond six.1

A few things families ask about this pathway:

• No asset test. Unlike the long-term-care rules further down, regular OHP does not count your savings, home, or car. Only income matters.1
• OHP Bridge for slightly higher incomes. Adults whose income is above 138% but up to 200% of the federal poverty level can qualify for OHP Bridge, Oregon's no-cost Basic Health Program, which covers a similar set of benefits.1
• Higher limits for pregnancy and children. Pregnant women and infants qualify up to 190% FPL, and children can qualify for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) up to 305% FPL.1
• Age 65+ and disability are measured differently. Older adults and people with disabilities are usually evaluated through the OSIPM program covered below, which has its own income and asset rules, and if you need long-term care, the MAGI limits above do not apply. To apply, use the ONE system at ONE.Oregon.gov, call ONE Customer Service at 1-800-699-9075, or go to a local ODHS office.3

The rest of this guide covers the long-term-care pathway (OSIPM), the rules for nursing-home and in-home waiver coverage for seniors and people with disabilities. Unlike regular OHP, this pathway does apply a $2,000 asset limit and a strict income cap.3

The asset limit is still $2,000

Unlike states that have raised their resource ceiling, Oregon holds to the long-standing federal figure. A single applicant for nursing-facility or waiver coverage is limited to $2,000 in countable assets; when both spouses apply, the limit is $3,000.3

"Countable" is the word that matters. Oregon's rules exclude the home (subject to the equity rules below), the full value of one vehicle the household selects for transportation, and money held in an irrevocable burial trust or other irrevocable burial arrangement. Those exclusions are written narrowly, so if you are counting on some other asset being exempt, get it confirmed by your ODHS caseworker before you plan around it. So the $2,000 applies to things like bank accounts, a second car, and investments, not the roof over your head. For a married couple, the spousal-impoverishment rules below protect far more than $2,000 for the spouse who stays in the community.3

Oregon Medicaid income limits: the cap and the trust

For nursing-facility and home-and-community-based services (HCBS) waiver coverage, Oregon sets the income limit at $2,982/month in countable income, equal to 300% of the 2026 SSI Federal Benefit Rate of $994.3,4

Here is where Oregon parts ways with spend-down states. Oregon's rule, OAR 461-155-0250(2), gives an applicant exactly two ways to meet that test: countable income at or below $2,982 a month, or a qualifying trust established under OAR 461-145-0540(9)(c). Oregon calls that instrument an Income Cap Trust, its version of a Qualified Income Trust or Miller Trust. Spending the overage down on medical bills is not one of the two.3

The trust holds all of your income, not just the amount over the cap. OAR 461-145-0540(9)(c) says the trust "contains all of the individual's income," so an account funded with only the excess is not the instrument the rule describes. That distinction is the one families get wrong most often, and it is expensive to get wrong: the mistake usually surfaces at the eligibility determination, after the attorney has been paid and the account opened.3

Each month the trustee pays out what came in, in the order the rule sets:3

1. The personal needs allowance and the applicable room-and-board standard.
2. Trust administrative costs, capped at $50 a month.3
3. The community spouse and family monthly maintenance needs allowance, where there is a spouse or dependent family member at home.
4. Medicare and other private medical insurance premiums.
5. Other incurred medical costs, and then the patient liability, the applicant's own share of the cost of care.

Whatever is still in the trust when the recipient dies must be paid directly to the state, up to the amount of medical assistance Oregon paid on their behalf.3 An Income Cap Trust is a legal document with specific drafting and administration requirements, so most families set one up with an elder-law attorney. If countable income is over the line, the trust is not optional, it is the other way in.

Long-term care: what a nursing-home resident keeps

When the Oregon Health Plan pays for nursing-facility care, the resident contributes almost all of their monthly income toward the cost of care. What they keep is the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA), money reserved for the resident's own small expenses such as clothing, a haircut, or a phone. In Oregon, the nursing-facility PNA is $81.28/month, and $90/month for a resident receiving a VA pension based on unreimbursed medical expenses.3 Federal law sets only a floor here, $30 a month, and states may set theirs higher.5

The same $2,000 asset limit applies to nursing-home applicants. Because Oregon uses an income cap rather than spend-down, a resident whose countable income runs over $2,982 still needs an Income Cap Trust even after entering the facility.3 (For the national picture on the PNA and how it works, see our explainer on the Medicaid personal needs allowance.)

The five-year look-back

Oregon reviews asset transfers made in the 60 months before a long-term-care application.3,6 Giving away money or property for less than fair market value during that window, gifting a grandchild a down payment or signing a house over to a child for a dollar, can trigger a penalty period during which the program won't pay for long-term-care services, even though you're otherwise eligible.

There are legitimate exceptions (transfers between spouses, transfers to a disabled child, certain caregiver-child home transfers) and legitimate planning approaches, but anything done inside the five-year window deserves an elder-law attorney's review first. If long-term care is on the horizon for someone in your family, talk to a professional before moving assets. For the broader toolkit, see our guide to Medicaid planning strategies.

Protecting the spouse who stays home

When one spouse needs long-term care and the other remains in the community, federal spousal-impoverishment rules keep the at-home spouse from being left destitute. Oregon's own rules, in OAR 461-160-0580, set the 2026 figures:3,7

On the home: Oregon uses the federal floor of $752,000, the lowest figure a state may set; states may elect up to $1,130,000.6 And when the applicant's spouse, a child under 21, a child who meets SSA blindness or disability criteria, or a relative dependent on the applicant for support occupies the home, Oregon excludes it with no equity limit at all.3

So a married couple is in a very different position from a single applicant. The community spouse's allowance is the largest of four amounts, and for most couples that is half of what they held in countable resources when the continuous period of care began, capped at $162,660 and never below $32,532. Read $162,660 as a ceiling rather than a target: a couple holding $120,000 protects $60,000, not $120,000.3,7

After death: estate recovery

Like every state, Oregon runs a Medicaid estate-recovery program.6 After a recipient who was 55 or older and received long-term-care services dies, the state may seek repayment from the estate. Recovery is deferred until the surviving spouse dies, and separately until there is no surviving child under 21, child with a disability, or child with a visual impairment. Oregon's own rule, OAR 461-135-0841, also lets ODHS waive a claim where enforcing it would cause undue hardship to the heirs or family.3 For how estate recovery works and where families have room to plan, see our Medicaid estate recovery explainer.

How to apply in Oregon

The Oregon Health Plan is administered by the Oregon Health Authority, and long-term-care eligibility is handled by the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Aging and People with Disabilities program. You have three ways to apply:

Long-term-care applicants also go through a level-of-care screening to confirm they need nursing-facility-level services. If your countable income is over $2,982/month, start the Income Cap Trust conversation with an elder-law attorney early, because the trust must be in place and receiving your income for the months you want covered.3 Apply even if you think you're over the income line, the trust exists precisely so that over-income seniors can still qualify.

Learn More

Find personalized help working through Oregon Medicaid eligibility and the Income Cap Trust for your family at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.