A single Florida applicant for the Institutional Care Program, home and community-based waivers, PACE, or hospice has to bring countable assets down to $2,000 or less; a couple where both spouses need coverage has a $3,000 ceiling. There's a higher runway — $5,000 for an individual or $6,000 for a couple — for applicants whose income falls under the MEDS-AD limit, per the DCF ESS Manual, Chapter 1600, Section 1640.0205. A separate program for working people with disabilities under the HCBS umbrella allows $13,000 for one person or $24,000 for a couple, and it doesn't count IRS-recognized retirement accounts against that ceiling.
Florida is what's called an income-cap state: once gross monthly income crosses 300% of the SSI federal benefit rate, an applicant is disqualified outright, full stop — there's no spending your way under the line like in many spend-down states. For 2026 that cap lands at $2,982 a month for an individual and $5,964 for a couple, derived from the year's $994 SSI Federal Benefit Rate (DCF Appendix A-9; Social Security Administration, SSI Federal Payment Amounts for 2026). Anyone over that threshold typically qualifies anyway by funneling the excess into a Qualified Income Trust — but the trust has to be set up and funded before the income arrives, since it can't be backdated (DCF Appendix A-22.1).
This is a number worth double-checking every time you use it: the cap climbed from $2,901 a month in 2025 to $2,982 in 2026 on January 1. Always confirm the live DCF Appendix A-9 figure rather than trusting a secondhand source.
When one spouse moves into a facility and the other stays home, Florida lets the at-home spouse keep a protected slice of the couple's combined countable assets — the Community Spouse Resource Allowance — capped at $162,660 for 2026 (DCF Appendix A-9). Florida treats this allowance as one flat ceiling rather than splitting the couple's assets in half first, a method elder-law professionals sometimes call a "100% state" approach (DCF ESS Manual Ch. 1600, §1640.0205). The community spouse may also draw on some of the institutionalized spouse's income if their own falls short of the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance, which is $2,705 a month starting July 1, 2026, plus up to $812 a month in excess shelter costs, for a combined ceiling of $4,067 (DCF Appendix A-9).
Certain things simply don't count against an applicant. The homestead is fully excluded as a countable asset if it's the person's main residence, no matter its value, though the home-equity rule below still applies (DCF ESS Manual Ch. 1600, §1640.0534). One vehicle is entirely excluded, and DCF will apply that exclusion to whichever car helps the applicant the most (§1640.0591). Burial funds set aside separately are excluded up to $2,500 per person, along with burial plots and prepaid irrevocable funeral contracts (§1640.0514).
Florida adds a wrinkle most states skip: even though the homestead itself doesn't count as an asset, anyone applying for ICP, HCBS waivers, or institutional hospice with home equity above $752,000 in 2026 is disqualified from long-term care services — unless a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child is living there. DCF is direct about this being a separate gate layered on top of the asset exclusion, not an asset test itself (DCF ESS Manual Ch. 1600, §1640.0307.04). Families facing genuine hardship can request a waiver backed by physician documentation.