Virginia's 2026 Medicaid income limits are about $1,835 a month for one adult aged 19 to 64 and $2,982 a month for aged, blind, or disabled residents who need long-term care.,,, The adult figure is 138% of the federal poverty level under the MAGI rules, which also cover children, pregnant women, and parents and caretaker relatives, and none of those groups faces an asset limit. The long-term-care figure is not a hard cap either: for nursing-home care, the CCC Plus Waiver, or PACE, Virginia lets you spend the excess down on care costs, so a Miller Trust is not the route here.,

In This Guide

Which Virginia Medicaid Income Limit Applies to You

Virginia runs two different Medicaid income tests. They produce different numbers for the same household, and which one applies depends on who is asking, not on how much they earn. To see where these figures sit against other states, compare Medicaid income limits by state.

The $2,982/month figure above is the SSI-related aged, blind, and disabled (ABD) standard. It governs nursing-facility and waiver coverage, and it is the number that carries the $2,000 asset limit., Most of this guide is about that test, because it is the one families face when a parent needs long-term care.

The other test is MAGI, short for modified adjusted gross income. It governs adults under 65 who are not pregnant and not on Medicare, children, pregnant women, and parents and other caretaker relatives. MAGI limits are set as a percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), and federal law bars Virginia from applying any asset or resource test to these groups.

That is the sharpest contrast on this page: the $2,000 asset limit that dominates long-term-care planning does not exist on the MAGI side.,

Virginia's 2026 MAGI and FAMIS Income Limits by Group

Virginia has adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion, so it covers the expansion adult group, which it calls MAGI Adults.

Group Base standard Applied limit with the 5% FPL disregard
MAGI Adults (ages 19 to 64) 133% FPL 138% FPL
Children under age 19 143% FPL 148% FPL
Pregnant women 143% FPL 148% FPL
FAMIS (separate CHIP, for children over the Medicaid limit) 200% FPL Not stated on Virginia's chart
Parents and caretaker relatives (LIFC) A dollar standard, not a percent of FPL Not applicable

Why the same group shows two numbers. Virginia states a base standard for each group and then adds the standard five-percentage-point FPL disregard on top of it. That is why the federal eligibility table lists Virginia's adult group at 133% while Virginia's own charts state 138%. The two figures are not in conflict. Virginia's charts apply it to the MAGI Adults, children, and pregnant-women standards.

Children are one band, not three. Virginia does not split children into age bands for the income standard. Infants, young children, and teenagers (ages 0-1, 1-5, and 6-18) all use a single Child Under Age 19 standard of 143% FPL. Children over the Medicaid limit are served by FAMIS, Virginia's separate CHIP program, at 200% FPL. The general federal floor for children is 133% FPL (a state that had set a higher infant standard by 1989 must keep it for babies under 1), so Virginia's 143% standard sits above that general floor.,

Pregnant women qualify at 143% FPL, and FAMIS MOMS and FAMIS Prenatal extend pregnancy coverage up to 200% FPL.

The Parent and Caretaker-Relative Pathway

A grandparent raising a grandchild is the case that brings eldercare readers to this group, so it is worth being precise about it.

Parents and other caretaker relatives are a federally mandatory Medicaid group, but their coverage is pegged to the state's own old cash-welfare (AFDC) income standard, not to a percentage of the federal poverty level. Federal law sets a floor (the state's AFDC standard as of May 1, 1988, converted to a MAGI equivalent) and a ceiling, and each state sets its own standard between them.

Two things matter in Virginia. First, Virginia calls this group Low-Income Families with Children (LIFC) and sets it in dollars rather than as a percent of FPL, so it does not reduce to a single percentage the way the other groups do. The current LIFC amounts come from DMAS; ask your local social services department for the figure that applies to your household.

Second, because Virginia adopted the expansion, a caretaker between 19 and 64 who is over the LIFC standard is not out of options. The MAGI Adults group covers them up to 138% FPL., One condition applies: a parent or caretaker relative living with a child under 19 can be covered in this group only if that child has Medicaid, CHIP, or other minimum essential coverage, so expect to be asked about the child's coverage.

Whether a particular grandparent counts as a caretaker relative, and whose income gets counted, are questions for DMAS rather than for a table. MAGI household size generally follows federal tax-filing relationships, but not always: for a tax dependent claimed by someone other than a parent, such as a grandchild claimed by a grandparent, CMS says non-filer rules apply instead. MAGI methods also do not apply on the aged, blind, and disabled side, so whose income counts can differ for the same family.

Turning 65: When the MAGI Pathway Closes

Because Virginia adopted the expansion, this transition applies in full force, and it catches families off guard.

The expansion adult group is written for people under 65 years of age, not pregnant, and not entitled to or enrolled in Medicare, at an effective ceiling of 138% FPL, with no asset test., For one person in 2026 that ceiling works out to roughly $1,835/month: 138% of the $15,960/year federal poverty guideline for a household of one in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, which is the schedule Virginia uses. (HHS publishes separate guidelines for Alaska and Hawaii.),

On the 65th birthday that pathway closes, and the same person is assessed on the SSI-related ABD track instead, unless they qualify for another MAGI group, such as parents and caretaker relatives, which is still decided under MAGI with no asset test. On the ABD track, two things change at once:

  • The income yardstick. It becomes an SSI-related test rather than 138% FPL. For nursing-facility and waiver coverage that test is $2,982/month, 300% of the $994 SSI federal benefit rate.,
  • A resource test appears. The MAGI groups are barred from applying one; on the ABD track Virginia's limit is $2,000 for one person, the same figure as the SSI resource limit.,,

The resource test is where families get caught. At 64, an expansion adult's savings are not counted at all; at 65, savings above $2,000 can put the same person over the ABD limit without a dollar of income changing.,,

Age is not the only trigger. The expansion group also excludes anyone entitled to or enrolled in Medicare, so a person under 65 who reaches Medicare through disability leaves the 138% no-asset-test group the same way.

Virginia's medically needy rules blunt the income half of this transition. As the next sections explain, for nursing-facility care, the CCC Plus Waiver, or PACE, income above the ABD standard does not by itself disqualify an applicant in Virginia; the excess goes toward the cost of care instead.

The Virginia Medicaid Asset Limit and What Does Not Count

For a single applicant seeking Virginia Medicaid-funded long-term care, the state caps countable assets at $2,000. For two people, the limit is $3,000. Other Virginia programs, including the Medicare Savings Programs, use higher limits, so being over $2,000 does not close every door, and a married applicant whose spouse stays home is judged under the spousal rules below.

Not everything counts. Virginia excludes several assets from the count:

  • Your home, meaning your principal place of residence and the land it stands on, subject to the federal home-equity limit, which is at least $752,000 in 2026 (the federal minimum; a state may set a higher limit, up to $1,130,000). That equity limit does not apply at all while your spouse, or your child who is under 21 or blind or disabled, lives in the home.,
  • One vehicle, regardless of value.
  • Household goods and personal effects.
  • Certain prepaid burial contracts.

So the $2,000 applies to things like bank accounts, a second car, and investments, not the roof over your head or the car in the driveway. The gap between the strict cash limit and these generous exemptions is exactly why Medicaid planning exists, and why the look-back rules below matter so much. For the broader toolkit, see our guide to Medicaid planning strategies.

How the Virginia Medicaid Income Limit Works: Spend-Down, Not a Miller Trust

Virginia's $2,982/month income standard for long-term care, set at 300% of the 2026 SSI federal benefit rate of $994, is easy to read as a hard income cap., For nursing-home care, the CCC Plus Waiver, and PACE, it is not.

Virginia is a medically needy state. That means an applicant for nursing-facility care, the CCC Plus Waiver, or PACE whose income sits above $2,982 is not simply disqualified. Instead, the excess becomes a spend-down: once you have incurred enough medical and care costs in a budget period to absorb the income above Virginia's medically needy threshold, the program covers the rest. For an individual that threshold is regionalized into three locality groups, running $421.94/month (Group I), $485.58/month (Group II), and $631.26/month (Group III), effective July 1, 2026.

In an income-cap state, an over-income applicant uses a Qualified Income Trust, also called a Miller Trust, but federal law makes that route available only in states that do not cover nursing-facility care through a medically needy pathway. Virginia does, so the spend-down takes the trust's place here.,

The spend-down has limits. DMAS does not offer it for the Community Living, Building Independence, or Family and Individual Supports waivers; each states that medically needy individuals are not eligible, so for those waivers income above $2,982 rules an applicant out.

What a Nursing-Home Resident Keeps

When Virginia Medicaid pays for nursing-facility care, the resident contributes nearly all of their monthly income toward the cost of care. What they keep is the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA), money reserved for small personal expenses like clothing, a haircut, or a phone. In Virginia the PNA is $40/month for an aged, blind, or disabled individual and $60/month for a couple. Some residents keep more: one who pays a guardian also keeps the actual guardian fees, up to 5% of gross income, and one in an institutional work program can keep an earnings allowance of up to $190 a month.

The resident's remaining income goes to the facility, after the allowance for a community spouse (below). Because Virginia uses spend-down rather than a hard income cap, even a resident with substantial monthly income can qualify; they simply contribute more of it toward care. For the national picture on how the PNA is calculated, see our explainer on the Medicaid personal needs allowance.

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. Virginia applies the federal spousal-impoverishment figures for 2026, and not only in nursing homes: the same protection covers a spouse whose partner is likely to stay in a medical institution for at least 30 days, has been authorized for community-based waiver services, or has elected hospice.,,

Protection 2026 Amount What it does
Protected resource amount (Virginia's name for the CSRA) At least $32,532; the spousal-share route is capped at $162,660 What the at-home spouse may keep in countable assets, on top of the applicant's own $2,000. A DMAS hearing officer or, after appeal, a court can set a higher amount.
Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA) Starts at $2,705.00 (eff. 7/1/2026); the worker's calculation is capped at $4,066.50 (eff. 1/1/2026) The income floor the at-home spouse is protected to; income can be shifted from the applicant to reach it. A hearing officer can raise it for exceptional circumstances causing extreme financial duress.
Home-equity limit At least $752,000 (the federal minimum; a state may set up to $1,130,000) Equity above the limit bars long-term-care eligibility, but the limit does not apply while a spouse, or a child under 21 or blind or disabled, lives in the home.

Two conditions apply before resources above $162,660 are protected. Before a hearing adds resources, the applicant's income that could go to the at-home spouse is counted first, and a court order counts only after the Medicaid appeals are exhausted and a circuit court orders more.,

The Five-Year Look-Back

Virginia reviews asset transfers made in the 60 months before the first date the applicant is both institutionalized and has applied for Medicaid., Giving away money or property for less than fair market value during that window, whether 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 will not pay for long-term-care services, even though you are otherwise eligible.

There are legitimate exceptions (transfers to a spouse, transfers to a child under 21 or a blind or disabled child, and certain home transfers to a caregiving son or daughter or a co-owning sibling) and legitimate planning approaches, but anything done inside the five-year window deserves an elder-law attorney's review first.,

The penalty period equals the total uncompensated value transferred (the part of fair market value not received in return, not the gross amount) divided by the average monthly private-pay cost of nursing facility care in Virginia at the time of application.

Paying a Family Caregiver Under a Personal Care Contract

Paying a relative for care in Virginia is not automatically a disqualifying transfer, but DMAS's eligibility manual says personal care contract payments may be treated as one unless: there is a written contract (or written statements from all parties) listing the services, hourly rate, and hours; the rate is fair market value when the services were provided; payments and services are verified; the individual's physician states the services were needed to prevent entry into long-term care; and the applicant or an authorized representative made the contract. DMAS counts as uncompensated any payment made before the contract was signed (or, if oral, agreed) by all parties, any advance payment such as a lump sum, any payment for a service with no fair market value, and payments to others for care received after the person enters Medicaid long-term care. See our personal care agreement guide and How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Virginia.

After Death: Estate Recovery

Virginia pursues federally required estate recovery for medical expenses Medicaid paid after a member turned 55, and only after the member's death. It does not recover where there is a surviving spouse who was never a Medicaid member, or a surviving child who is under 21, blind, or disabled, and DMAS may waive all or part of a claim for undue hardship., For how estate recovery works and where families have room to plan, see our Medicaid estate recovery explainer.

How to Apply in Virginia

Virginia Medicaid is run by the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), and applications are taken by your local social services department. You have four ways to apply.

Apply Online (CommonHelp) The state benefits portal, which handles Medicaid alongside other assistance programs. commonhelp.virginia.gov
Apply by Phone (Cover Virginia) The statewide call center for Virginia Medicaid. 1-855-242-8282 coverva.dmas.virginia.gov
Apply by Mail Mail a paper application to the Cardinal Care Correspondence Center, P.O. Box 1820, Richmond, VA 23218.
Apply in Person Drop off a paper application at your local Department of Social Services office.

CCC Plus Waiver applicants also need an LTSS screening, requested through local social services (or done by a hospital discharge planner if they are already in the hospital), that sets the level of care they need. Apply even if you think you are over the income limit: for nursing-facility care, the CCC Plus Waiver, or PACE, being over $2,982 a month does not by itself disqualify you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Virginia Medicaid income limit for long-term care in 2026?

The 2026 income standard for nursing-facility and waiver coverage is $2,982/month, set at 300% of the SSI federal benefit rate ($994). But for nursing-facility care, the CCC Plus Waiver, or PACE, income above that does not disqualify you. Virginia is a medically needy state, so you spend the excess down on medical and care costs to qualify. The Community Living, Building Independence, and Family and Individual Supports waivers do not offer that spend-down.,

What is the monthly income limit for Medicaid in Virginia in 2026?

It depends on the group. For long-term care, aged, blind, and disabled applicants face a $2,982/month standard; for nursing-facility care, the CCC Plus Waiver, or PACE, income above it can be spent down on care costs. Everyone else is measured under MAGI (modified adjusted gross income). Adults 19 to 64 who are not pregnant and not on Medicare qualify through Virginia's MAGI Adults group at 138% FPL, about $1,835/month for one person in 2026. Children under 19 are covered at 143% FPL, with FAMIS, Virginia's separate CHIP program, covering children over that limit up to 200% FPL. Pregnant women qualify at 143% FPL, and FAMIS MOMS and FAMIS Prenatal extend coverage to 200% FPL. Parents and caretaker relatives use a dollar standard rather than a percent of FPL.,,

Does Virginia Medicaid have an asset limit if I am under 65?

Not on the MAGI pathway. Federal law bars Virginia from applying any asset or resource test to the MAGI groups, which are expansion adults, children, pregnant women, and parents and caretaker relatives. The $2,000 asset limit belongs to the SSI-related aged, blind, and disabled and long-term-care pathways. On the 65th birthday the MAGI adult pathway closes, and a person assessed on the aged, blind, and disabled track then faces the resource test.,,

Does Virginia require a Miller Trust (Qualified Income Trust)?

No. Federal law makes a Qualified Income Trust a route to eligibility only in states that do not cover nursing-facility care through a medically needy pathway. Virginia does, so an over-income applicant for nursing-facility care, the CCC Plus Waiver, or PACE qualifies by incurring care costs that absorb the excess income. That spend-down is not offered for the Community Living, Building Independence, or Family and Individual Supports waivers.,

What is the Virginia Medicaid asset limit?

$2,000 in countable assets for one long-term-care applicant, or $3,000 for two people. The home (subject to the federal home-equity limit, at least $752,000 in 2026), one vehicle, household goods and personal effects, and certain prepaid burial contracts are exempt from the count.,

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

For 2026, the at-home (community) spouse keeps a protected resource amount of at least $32,532. The spousal-share route is capped at $162,660, but a DMAS hearing officer or, after appeal, a court can set a higher amount. The spouse is also protected to a monthly income allowance that starts at $2,705.00; the worker's calculation tops out at $4,066.50, and a hearing officer can raise it for extreme financial duress. The home-equity limit does not apply while the spouse lives in the home.,,

What does a nursing-home resident on Virginia Medicaid get to keep?

A Personal Needs Allowance of $40/month for an individual ($60 for a couple). A resident who pays a guardian also keeps the actual guardian fees, up to 5% of gross income, and one in an institutional work program can keep an earnings allowance of up to $190/month. The rest of the resident's monthly income goes toward the cost of care, after the allowance for a community spouse.

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. MedicaidVirginia Medicaid Programs OverviewVirginia Medicaid (Cardinal Care) covers long-term care through DMAS in 2026: eligibility, spend-down, CCC Plus waiver, MSPs, spousal rules, and how to apply. 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 Virginia Medicaid eligibility and spend-down 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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