Rights to Resource Assessment

If you are married, and your spouse lives in the community (community spouse), you are entitled to a resource assessment. When an individual who enters a nursing facility for the first time on or after September 30, 1989 has a community spouse, the couple has a right to request that a resource assessment be done by the Division of Human Services District Office.

You have a right to a resource assessment if you are going to need nursing facility care for 30 or more consecutive days.

The resource assessment is a procedure in which the District Office verifies and totals the couple's resources that are available as of the first continuous period of nursing facility care, and then determines a share for each spouse.

A portion of the combined resources will be "protected". This "protected" resource amount will be considered to be your spouse’s assets and will not be counted in determining your eligibility for medical assistance.

The "protected" resources do not have to be spent for your care.

The resource assessment may be done at the time of admission or any time up to and including the date you apply for medical assistance. There is no penalty for delaying the assessment, but it may be more difficult to document proof of assets if the assessment is delayed.

Your Division of Human Services District Office will explain the resource assessment process to you in greater detail when your assessment is done.