Wyoming Medicaid Income Limits 2026: Eligibility & Assets

Wyoming Medicaid income limits sit at a hard $2,982/month for long-term care, and going one dollar over doesn't disqualify you, it just means you must set up a Miller Trust first. Wyoming is an income-cap state, which changes how applicants get in the door.

This guide walks through the 2026 income and asset rules for Wyoming Medicaid for seniors and people with disabilities who need nursing-facility or home-based long-term care. It covers the income cap and the Qualified Income Trust that goes with it, the $2,000 asset limit, what a nursing-home resident keeps, the protections for a spouse who stays home, and how to apply through the state's eligibility system.

The income cap is the Wyoming story

Most states that run a "spend-down" let an over-income applicant subtract medical bills until they qualify. Wyoming doesn't work that way. It's an income-cap state, also called a "300% state," and that one design choice drives everything below.

For nursing-facility and home-and-community-based waiver coverage, the Wyoming Department of Health, Division of Healthcare Financing sets the 2026 monthly income limit at $2,982, exactly 300% of the 2026 SSI Federal Benefit Rate of $994. If your gross monthly income is at or below that figure, the income test is satisfied. If it's above, you are over the cap, and Wyoming does not operate a medically needy spend-down for long-term care to bridge the gap.

That's where the Miller Trust comes in.

How Wyoming Medicaid income limits work when you're over the cap

In an income-cap state, being even slightly over $2,982/month would shut you out entirely, except for one legal fix that federal law guarantees. An over-income applicant must establish an irrevocable Qualified Income Trust, almost always called a Miller Trust, before Medicaid will pay for long-term-care services.

Here's the mechanism. Each month, the applicant's excess income (the amount above the $2,982 cap, and often more) is deposited into the trust account. Money sitting in a properly drafted Miller Trust doesn't count toward the income limit, so on paper the applicant is now under the cap. The trust then pays out in a fixed order set by federal rules: a Personal Needs Allowance to the resident, any spousal allowance, and the remainder toward the cost of care. Whatever's left in the trust when the recipient dies goes to the state, up to the amount Medicaid spent.

A worked example shows how the cap and the trust interact.

Two things to know about the trust. It must be irrevocable, and it must be set up correctly before benefits start, so this is work for an elder-law attorney, not a do-it-yourself form. And it doesn't shrink the income, it reroutes it. The resident still contributes nearly all of that income toward care; the trust is the legal container that lets Medicaid pay the rest.

The $2,000 asset limit

Income is one test; assets are the other, and they're judged separately. A single applicant for nursing-facility or waiver coverage may hold no more than $2,000 in countable assets. A married couple with both spouses applying is limited to $3,000.

"Countable" is the word that does the work. Wyoming, like every state, exempts a long list of assets from the count:

• The primary home, as long as equity stays under the 2026 limit of $752,000 (the cap is waived when a spouse or dependent lives there)
• One vehicle
• Household goods and personal effects
• A prepaid, irrevocable burial arrangement

So the $2,000 ceiling applies to things like bank accounts, a second vehicle, stocks, and other liquid holdings, not the roof over your head. The asset limit applies whether or not a Miller Trust is involved; the trust solves the income problem, not the asset problem.

The five-year look-back

Wyoming 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 inside that window, signing a house over to a child for a dollar, gifting a grandchild a down payment, can trigger a penalty period during which Medicaid won't pay for long-term care, even though you otherwise qualify.

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. For the broader toolkit, see our guide to Medicaid planning strategies.

What a nursing-home resident keeps

When Wyoming Medicaid 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 Wyoming the PNA is $50/month, per the Wyoming Department of Health.

For an applicant who needed a Miller Trust, the PNA is paid out of the trust before the rest goes to care. For one already under the cap, it's simply held back from the income that would otherwise be owed. Either way, $50 is what stays with the resident. (For the national picture on how the allowance is set, 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. Wyoming applies the federal maximums for 2026:

So a married couple is in a very different position from a single applicant. The community spouse can hold up to $162,660 in countable assets and keep monthly income within the federal MMMNA range while the other spouse receives Medicaid-funded care. The applicant's own $2,000 asset limit sits on top of, not inside, the spouse's allowance.

After death: estate recovery

Like every state, Wyoming runs a Medicaid estate-recovery program. After a recipient who was 55 or older and received long-term-care services dies, the state may seek repayment from the estate, with the federally required exceptions (a surviving spouse, or a minor, blind, or disabled child) and an undue-hardship waiver. Funds remaining in a Miller Trust at death are also subject to recovery up to what Medicaid paid. For how recovery works and where families have room to plan, see our Medicaid estate recovery explainer.

How to apply in Wyoming

Wyoming Medicaid long-term care is administered by the Wyoming Department of Health, Division of Healthcare Financing. You apply through the Wyoming Eligibility System (WES), the state's online benefits portal. There are two main routes:

1. Online through WES at wesystem.wyo.gov, which handles Medicaid and other benefit programs together.
2. By phone through the Long-Term Care Eligibility Unit at 1-855-203-2936.

Long-term-care applicants also go through a level-of-care screening to confirm they need nursing-facility-level services. If your income is over the $2,982 cap, set up the Miller Trust before or alongside the application, since Medicaid can't pay until the trust is funded and the income is rerouted. Apply even if you think you're over the limit. Between the trust pathway and the spousal protections, many people who assume they're disqualified are not.

Learn More

• Medicaid Planning Strategies
• How Medicaid Estate Recovery Works
• The Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance, Explained

Find personalized help working through Wyoming Medicaid eligibility and whether a Miller Trust fits 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.