Rhode Island Medicaid income limits come in two versions, and which one applies to you depends on your age, whether you have Medicare, and why you need coverage. For long-term care, the 2026 income standard is $2,982 a month, and on the main long-term-care pathways a single applicant may keep $4,000 in countable assets, double the $2,000 SSI limit. For adults 19 to 64 without Medicare, parents and caretaker relatives, pregnant women, and children, the test is Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI), which looks at income only and applies no asset test at all.,,,

In This Guide

Which Rhode Island Medicaid income limits apply to you: MAGI or long-term care

Rhode Island applies two different income tests, and the one that decides your case depends on who needs coverage and why.

  • The SSI-related aged, blind, and disabled (ABD) test. The $2,982/month standard and the $4,000 asset limit covered in the rest of this guide. Rhode Island's rules call it the elders and adults with disabilities (EAD) pathway and define it by who it reaches: elders 65 and older, and Medicare-eligible adults aged 19 to 64. The $2,982 standard is the ceiling for both the institutional ("special income") route and the home-and-community-based waiver route, and it carries a resource test.
  • The MAGI test. For adults 19 to 64 who are not pregnant and not eligible for Medicare, plus children, pregnant women, and parents or caretaker relatives, eligibility runs on Modified Adjusted Gross Income. Income only: federal law bars any asset or resource test for these groups.,

Helping a parent apply for nursing-home or in-home care? The ABD number is yours. Checking a working-age adult or a child in the household? Read the MAGI standards below.

Rhode Island's MAGI income limits for 2026

Rhode Island brands its MAGI coverage for families and children RIte Care. The state expresses its standards as a percentage of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

Group Rhode Island's 2026 income standard
Adults 19–64 (ACA expansion group) At or below 133% FPL as the state states it, an effective 138% FPL
Parents and caretaker relatives living with a child under 18 Up to 133% FPL
Pregnant women Up to 253% FPL
Children up to age 19 Up to 261% FPL, the same figure for every age band
Separate (non-Medicaid) CHIP program Listed as N/A by medicaid.gov, consistent with Rhode Island covering CHIP-funded children inside Medicaid at the same 261%

Three details in that table are worth spelling out, because the published numbers do not all line up.

The 133% and 138% adult figures are the same rule. Rhode Island's Medicaid-for-Adults page states the expansion standard as income "equal to or below 133 percent" of FPL, the net base standard. Federal law then subtracts 5 percentage points of FPL, but only against the highest MAGI standard you could qualify under, so for an adult whose best route is this group the effective ceiling is 138% FPL. Both numbers are correct: they describe the same threshold before and after the disregard.,

Children sit well above the federal floor. Coverage of children under 19 is federally mandatory to a minimum of 133% FPL. Rhode Island covers them to 261%, roughly double that floor, at the same standard for every age band. Medicaid.gov lists no separate CHIP standard, which fits Rhode Island covering CHIP-funded children inside Medicaid at that 261%.,

The parent and caretaker figure is not so tidy. Rhode Island's EOHHS page states 133% FPL for parents with children under 18, while the CMS national table (state decisions as of December 1, 2023) lists the state's Section 1931 parent standard at 116%. The CMS footnote reconciles them: in an expansion state, a parent above that standard may qualify in the adult group, which Rhode Island covers to 133%. So a parent over 116% FPL should still apply.

Parents and caretaker relatives: the pathway grandparents look to

For an older Rhode Islander raising a grandchild, this pathway turns on the child in the home rather than on age or disability.

Federally, parents and caretaker relatives are a mandatory Medicaid group, but their floor is not a poverty-line percentage: under 42 CFR 435.110, implementing Social Security Act §1931, the minimum standard is the state's own cash-welfare (AFDC) income standard in effect on May 1, 1988, converted to a MAGI equivalent. That is the least a state may set; the state's own published standard is the number to check. Rhode Island adopted the expansion and states its parent and caretaker standard at 133% FPL, level with its expansion adult standard.

Whether a grandparent counts as a "caretaker relative" turns on household and relationship rules. Under federal MAGI rules the household generally follows tax-filing relationships, but not always: a child claimed as a dependent by a non-parent, such as a grandparent, is counted under different rules. Take that question to DHS or HealthyRhode.

No asset test on the MAGI side

Federal law bars a state from applying any asset or resource test to the MAGI groups: expansion adults, children, pregnant women, and parents or caretaker relatives. The statute excepts other pathways from that bar, including people 65 or older where age is a condition, people assessed as blind or disabled, the medically needy, and people requesting long-term services and supports. Rhode Island's $4,000 limit belongs to its long-term-care pathways, which fall within those exceptions, and the state exempts ACA expansion adults from it, so a 60-year-old in the expansion group with savings in the bank is not asset-tested at all, even when seeking long-term care.

What changes at 65

Rhode Island has adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion, so the new adult group operates here in full. That group is written narrowly: it covers people under 65 who are not pregnant and not entitled to or enrolled in Medicare, at an effective 138% FPL, with no asset test.,

One change is coming. Under the 2025 budget-reconciliation law (Public Law 119-21), states must impose a community-engagement requirement on the new adult group no later than the first quarter after December 31, 2026. Many are excluded, including a parent or caretaker of a child 13 or under or of a disabled person, anyone medically frail, blind or disabled, and anyone pregnant or postpartum. Others can meet it with 80 hours a month of work, community service or a work program, half-time school, or monthly earnings of at least 80 hours at the federal minimum wage. Rhode Island's eligibility page says that from 2027 some adults will have to meet work requirements and renew every six months.

Against the 2026 HHS poverty guideline for one person in the 48 contiguous states and DC, $15,960 a year, 138% is roughly $1,835/month. Treat that as a guide: the state sets when each year's guideline takes effect, and Medicaid counts income under MAGI rules, not from a raw paycheck.,

On the 65th birthday, that pathway closes. Unless another MAGI group still fits (a caretaker relative raising a child, for instance), the same person is assessed under the SSI-related rules instead, and two things change at once:,

  • The income yardstick changes. It is no longer 138% FPL. For long-term services and supports, Rhode Island's standard is 300% of the SSI Federal Benefit Rate, $2,982/month in 2026. Which standard applies to coverage other than long-term care depends on the pathway, so ask DHS which number you are being measured against before you assume you are over it.,,
  • A resource test appears, the test the MAGI groups are barred from applying. On the long-term-care pathways most applicants use, Rhode Island sets that limit at $4,000 in countable assets; the underlying SSI standard is $2,000 for an individual.,,

So a 64-year-old who qualified on income alone, with $12,000 in the bank, was not asset-tested at all; at 65, on the long-term-care track, that same $12,000 is counted against a $4,000 limit. The cliff has a second trigger unrelated to age: the new adult group also excludes anyone entitled to or enrolled in Medicare, so someone under 65 who reaches Medicare through disability leaves the group the same way.,

If that is you, ask about the medically-needy spend-down below.

Who the $4,000 asset limit applies to, and what counts

The federal SSI countable-resource limit is $2,000 for an individual. For Medicaid long-term care, Rhode Island sets its own higher number. Under the Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) financial-eligibility rules issued by the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), a long-term-care applicant on the special-income, home-and-community-based, or medically-needy pathway may keep $4,000 in countable assets and still qualify. When only one spouse needs care, the at-home spouse's share is protected separately, as covered below.,

One group is carved out of the resource test altogether: an ACA expansion adult seeking Medicaid LTSS is exempt from it, so the $4,000 ceiling does not apply to them. And the $4,000 is not the figure for every long-term-care group: the state's resource table lists $2,000 for the LTSS pathway tied to SSI, so ask which pathway you are being assessed under.

The limit counts only countable assets. Rhode Island applies the SSI exclusion method, which leaves a long list of property out of the count: the home (see the home rules below), one vehicle used as the primary source of transportation, regardless of value, and household goods and personal effects. Burial money is excluded only up to a dollar limit: burial funds of $1,500 for an individual, $3,000 for a couple, or $4,000 for a person seeking medically-needy eligibility, plus an irrevocable burial contract up to $15,000. So the $4,000 applies to things like bank balances, a second car, and investments.

The home is excluded if its equity is at or below the CMS minimum Rhode Island uses, $752,000 for 2026, while you, your spouse or a dependent lives there, or while you intend to return, stated in writing at application and each renewal. If a spouse, or a child under 21 or blind or disabled, lives there, the whole home is excluded whatever its equity. Otherwise, an owner over the limit may request a hardship exemption.,

Rhode Island Medicaid income limits and how the test works

Rhode Island sets its 2026 income limit for nursing-facility and home-and-community-based waiver coverage at $2,982/month, equal to 300% of the 2026 Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Federal Benefit Rate of $994.,

Being over that number does not automatically disqualify you. Through Rhode Island's medically-needy pathway, an applicant above the standard can still qualify by spending down the excess on allowable expenses over a one-month budget period: medically necessary health expenses of the beneficiary (and a spouse or dependents, where applicable) that no third party is liable to pay.

That route has a ceiling worth knowing: to qualify as medically needy, total countable income must be at or below the projected cost, at the private-pay rate, of the long-term care the person is seeking or receiving. So someone a few hundred dollars over the $2,982 standard is not shut out; someone whose income exceeds the cost of the care itself is.

This is also why Rhode Island is not a strict income-cap state. In an income-cap state, excess income can go into a Qualified Income Trust, often called a Miller Trust; federal law confines that trust to states that do not offer a medically-needy pathway for nursing-facility care. Rhode Island's rules resolve excess income differently: every long-term-care applicant above the Federal cap is automatically evaluated for the medically-needy pathway. Whether a trust has any role in one particular case is a question for EOHHS or an elder-law attorney.

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

A nursing-facility resident on Medicaid puts their monthly income toward the cost of care after a set of deductions, such as an allowance for a spouse or family at home and health-insurance premiums. The amount they keep for themselves is the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA), money for the resident's own personal needs. Rhode Island sets its nursing-facility PNA at $75/month, the $30 federal minimum plus a $45/month state supplement; a veteran receiving the VA improved pension gets $90/month instead., It is a post-eligibility deduction for a beneficiary residing in a nursing facility, an ICF/ID, or a hospital providing long-term services, not a payment to someone receiving care at home. (For how the allowance works nationally, see our explainer on the Medicaid personal needs allowance.)

The same $4,000 asset limit applies to nursing-home applicants on the special-income and medically-needy pathways, and a resident with substantial monthly income can still qualify up to the ceiling above; they simply contribute more of it toward care.

The five-year look-back

Rhode Island reviews asset transfers made in the 60 months before a long-term-care application., Giving away money or property for less than fair market value in 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 Medicaid won't pay for long-term care, even though you're otherwise eligible. The rest of your Medicaid coverage continues.

There are legitimate exceptions (transfers between spouses, transfers to a blind or disabled child, certain caregiver-child home transfers), and the state may waive a penalty for undue hardship. There are legitimate planning approaches too, but anything done inside the five-year window deserves an elder-law attorney's review first. 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. Rhode Island applies the federal framework for 2026:,,

Protection 2026 Amount What it does
Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) Half the couple's countable assets, adjusted if necessary to between $32,532 and $162,660 What the at-home spouse ordinarily keeps, on top of the applicant's own limit; a court order or fair hearing can allow more.
Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMNA) A minimum of $2,705.00 (effective 7/1/2026 through 6/30/2027) and a maximum of $4,066.50 (effective 1/1/2026) The at-home spouse's monthly income allowance; income can be shifted from the applicant to reach it, and a fair hearing can allow more for significant financial duress.
Home-equity limit $752,000 (the 2026 federal minimum, which Rhode Island applies) Above this equity the home is not excluded, unless a spouse or a child under 21, blind or disabled lives there.

These protections apply whether the spouse needing care is in a nursing facility or at home on a waiver, and Rhode Island must send notice of the CSRA result with the right to appeal it.,

After death: estate recovery

Rhode Island runs a Medicaid estate-recovery program, and its own statute reaches further than the federal floor. Federal law requires the state to seek recovery from the estate of a recipient who was 55 or older when they received nursing-facility, home-and-community-based, and related hospital and prescription-drug services. R.I. Gen. Laws § 40-8-15 goes wider: the total Medicaid paid for a beneficiary who was 55 or older at the time of receipt becomes a lien on the estate in favor of EOHHS, not just the long-term-care spending. The lien does not attach against the estate of a beneficiary survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a child who is blind or permanently and totally disabled, and EOHHS must waive it in whole or in part for undue hardship. See our Medicaid estate recovery explainer for where families have room to plan.

How to apply in Rhode Island

A long-term-care applicant completes the DHS Application for Assistance plus the supplemental LTSS forms.

1
Step 1

Gather your financial documents

Pull together recent bank statements, proof of income (Social Security, pension), and records of any asset transfers in the last five years, since Rhode Island reviews transfers made in the 60 months before an application.,

2
Step 2

Submit your application

Apply online through HealthyRhode, the state's benefits portal, or by mail to RI DHS, P.O. Box 8709, Cranston, RI 02920-8787. EOHHS also takes a paper application in person, by telephone, or by fax.

3
Step 3

Complete the clinical assessment

Long-term-care applicants also meet a functional "level of care" test, separate from the financial review.

4
Step 4

Apply even if you think you're over the limit

Between the $4,000 asset rule and the medically-needy spend-down, being over the $2,982 standard or the $2,000 SSI figure does not by itself rule you out.

HealthyRhode Benefits Portal Apply online for Rhode Island Medicaid and other assistance programs. healthyrhode.ri.gov
Rhode Island DHS Call Center Apply for coverage by phone. 1-855-697-4347https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0600815023
RI Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) Long-term services and supports information. eohhs.ri.gov/Consumer/ConsumerInformation/Healthcare/LongTermServicesandSupports/HomeandCommunityBasedServices.aspx

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Rhode Island Medicaid income limits in 2026?

It depends which test applies. For long-term care, the 2026 limit is $2,982/month (300% of the SSI Federal Benefit Rate), with a $4,000 asset limit on the main long-term-care pathways, and the medically-needy spend-down reaches some people above it. On MAGI, with no asset test: adults 19–64 without Medicare at an effective 138% FPL, parents and caretaker relatives at 133%, pregnant women at 253%, and children up to 19 at 261%.

Do the Rhode Island Medicaid income limits apply an asset test?

Only on one side. The MAGI groups (expansion adults 19 to 64 without Medicare, children, pregnant women, parents and caretaker relatives) face no asset test at all; federal law bars one. The aged, blind, and disabled long-term-care pathways do apply one: $4,000 in countable assets on the special-income, home-and-community-based, and medically-needy pathways, and $2,000 on the LTSS pathway tied to SSI.

Why did my Rhode Island Medicaid coverage change at 65?

The ACA expansion adult group covers only people under 65 who are not on Medicare. At 65, unless another MAGI group still fits (such as a caretaker relative raising a child), you move to the SSI-related track: for long-term care the income yardstick becomes $2,982/month in 2026 (for other coverage, ask DHS which standard applies), and a resource test appears for the first time. Ask DHS about the medically-needy spend-down.

What is the Rhode Island Medicaid asset limit?

On the special-income, home-and-community-based, or medically-needy pathway, a single applicant may keep $4,000 in countable assets, double the $2,000 SSI limit; an at-home spouse's share is protected separately. The home (within the equity and occupancy rules above), one vehicle used as primary transportation, and household goods are exempt, and burial money up to set limits.

Does Rhode Island require a Miller Trust (Qualified Income Trust)?

Rhode Island is not a strict income-cap state. Every long-term-care applicant over its $2,982 standard is automatically evaluated for the medically-needy pathway, which you can qualify for if your countable income is at or below the private-pay cost of the care you are seeking. Whether a trust would help in your case is a question for EOHHS or an elder-law attorney.

How much can a spouse keep when the other goes into a nursing home?

For 2026, the at-home spouse ordinarily keeps half the couple's countable assets, adjusted if necessary to between $32,532 and $162,660, and monthly income up to the maintenance allowance, from $2,705.00 (effective 7/1/2026) to a maximum of $4,066.50 (effective 1/1/2026). A court order or fair hearing can allow more. While the at-home spouse lives in the home, the whole home is excluded.

What does a nursing-home resident on Rhode Island Medicaid keep?

A Personal Needs Allowance of $75/month, the $30 federal minimum plus a $45/month state supplement, or $90/month for a veteran receiving the VA improved pension. Income left after that and other deductions, such as an allowance for a spouse at home, goes toward care.

How do I apply for Rhode Island Medicaid?

Apply online through HealthyRhode at healthyrhode.ri.gov, or by phone with Rhode Island DHS at 1-855-697-4347., Long-term-care applicants also meet a functional level-of-care test. Apply even if you think you're over the limit: with the $4,000 asset rule and the spend-down pathway, being over the $2,982 standard does not by itself rule you out.

Learn More

MedicaidMedicaid Income Limits by State: Which Number Applies to YouMedicaid income limits for 2026 depend on your pathway: expansion adults, aged and disabled, or nursing-home care. See the figures and your state's limits. MedicaidMedicaid Planning StrategiesSee which assets you keep, how the 5-year look-back works, and the legal moves that qualify you for Medicaid long-term care without losing the house. MedicaidHow Medicaid Estate Recovery WorksMedicaid estate recovery can claim a home after death, but not while a spouse or a child under 21, blind or disabled survives. See your state's rules. MedicaidThe Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance, ExplainedHow the Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance works in 2026: the $30 federal floor, what the states set, and how patient liability is calculated.

Find personalized help working through Rhode Island Medicaid eligibility 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.

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