---
title: "Long-Term Care Funding in Maryland | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/
description: "Maryland long-term care funding: Medicaid spend-down rules, the new TOD deed, estate recovery, VA benefits, and insurance options explained."
author: George A. Mellendorf, CLTC, LTCP (Central States Insurance Services, Inc.)
publisher: Funding LTC Marketplace
note: Educational content; not legal, tax or financial advice. Markdown copy of the HTML page at the URL above.
---
State Funding Guide

# Long-Term Care Funding in Maryland

Maryland doesn't hand families one tidy income number to plan around. Instead of a single statewide income cap, the state's Medical Assistance Program sorts long-term-care applicants into distinct coverage groups — including an aged/blind/disabled group built around a medically needy spend-down — so the right pathway depends on which group actually fits the applicant, not on a number pulled from a generic checklist.

The state is also mid-transition on one of its biggest planning tools: lawmakers enacted a statutory transfer-on-death deed in 2026, but it won't take effect until October 1, 2026. Families weighing a home-title move today are working against a countdown clock, not a tool that's already live.

## Why Maryland is different

- **No single income-cap figure** — Maryland publishes medically needy income standards ($350/month for one person, $392 for two) and a spend-down route rather than one universal long-term-care income ceiling.
- **A transfer-on-death deed that isn't live yet** — the Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed Act (Chapter 750) is enacted but doesn't take effect until **October 1, 2026**, and even then it has no effect on public-assistance eligibility during the owner's lifetime.
- **Estate recovery follows the probate estate** — Maryland's recovery regulation defines the recoverable "estate" using Maryland probate law, without a separately stated expanded non-probate definition.
- **Eight home-and-community waivers, uneven waitlists** — six of Maryland's eight 1915(c) waivers carry a registry or waitlist; the Brain Injury and Medical Day Care Services Waivers currently do not.
- **A state veterans home with real capacity** — Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in St. Mary's County is Medicare/Medicaid-certified with a 126-bed assisted-living program and a 318-bed skilled-nursing program.

## Maryland at a glance

- Individual resource standard: $2,500
- Two-person resource standard: $3,000
- Medically needy monthly standard: $350 (one person) / $392 (two people)
- Home-equity limit: $752,000 (effective 2025)
- Community-spouse resource floor / maximum (2026): $32,532 / $162,660
- Facility personal-needs allowance: $106/month
- Look-back period: 60 months
- Published MA-6 monthly / daily amount: $12,501 / $411 (effective July 1, 2025)

## Which situation matches yours?

| If this is your situation | Start here |
|---|---|
| Care Needed NowA hospital discharge is being planned, a facility decision is imminent, or home care has already started. | [Maryland Medicaid Look-Back Period](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/medicaid-look-back-period/)[Maryland VA Aid & Attendance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/va-aid-attendance/) |
| Care Within 1-3 YearsMemory changes, a recent fall, or a new diagnosis have made the timeline real, but care isn't needed today. | [Maryland VA Aid & Attendance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/va-aid-attendance/)[Maryland Long-Term Care Planning](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/long-term-care-planning/) |
| Planning AheadNo diagnosis, no crisis, no urgency — just the recognition that long-term care is a when, not an if, for most people eventually. | Maryland Long-Term Care Insurance[Maryland Long-Term Care Planning](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/long-term-care-planning/) |
| Veteran (or surviving spouse) of wartime serviceAdds a federal pension benefit on top of whatever the Situation and State rows point to. | [Maryland VA Aid & Attendance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/va-aid-attendance/) |
| Owns significant home equityThe home is usually Medicaid-exempt during life but affects estate recovery and private-pay runway. | [Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/transfer-on-death-deed/)[Maryland Medicaid Long-Term Care](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/medicaid-long-term-care/) |
| Already has LTC insurance or a hybrid life/LTC policy in forceThe existing policy is usually the first dollar spent; other pillars become supplemental once benefits are exhausted or if a gap remains. | Maryland Long-Term Care Insurance[Maryland Medicaid Long-Term Care](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/medicaid-long-term-care/) |

## The 10 funding pillars in Maryland

Every pillar below has its own dedicated Maryland page with the current rules, dollar figures, and what to do next.

- [Maryland Medicaid Long-Term Care](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/medicaid-long-term-care/) (Medicaid Program): How Maryland Medical Assistance covers institutional care and HCBS through its long-term-services pathways.

- [Maryland Medicaid Asset Limits](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/medicaid-asset-limits/) (Financial Eligibility): Maryland's current resource, home-equity, community-spouse, and medically needy income standards for long-term-care planning.

- [Maryland Medicaid Look-Back Period](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/medicaid-look-back-period/) (Look-Back & Penalties): Maryland's 60-month transfer review and the current published MA-6 penalty calculation figures.

- [Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/transfer-on-death-deed/) (Asset Protection Tool): Maryland's enacted, revocable statutory TOD deed takes effect October 1, 2026 and expressly has no public-assistance effect during the owner's lifetime.

- [Maryland Medicaid Estate Recovery](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/medicaid-estate-recovery/) (Estate Recovery): Maryland ties estate recovery to the probate-law estate, with survivor protections and a narrow substantial-hardship standard.

- [Maryland Nursing Home Medicaid](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/nursing-home-medicaid/) (Nursing Home Coverage): Maryland nursing-facility Medicaid uses a Utilization Control Agent medical certification process and a current $106 personal-needs allowance.

- [Maryland Home Care Medicaid](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/home-care-medicaid/) (Home & Community Care): Maryland operates eight 1915(c) waivers, with a registry or waitlist for six of them and no waitlist for two.

- [Maryland Long-Term Care Planning](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/long-term-care-planning/) (Planning Ahead): Maryland planning must coordinate spend-down, the five-year transfer review, probate-based recovery, and a TOD deed whose effective date is still pending.

- [Maryland VA Aid & Attendance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/va-aid-attendance/) (VA Benefits): Maryland's Charlotte Hall Veterans Home is Medicare/Medicaid certified, and qualifying permanently disabled veterans can receive a dwelling-house property-tax exemption.

- [Maryland Long-Term Care Insurance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/maryland/long-term-care-insurance/) (LTC Insurance): Maryland regulates Partnership policies through the Insurance Commissioner and protects qualifying Partnership benefits from Medicaid estate recovery.

Participates in the State Long-Term Care Partnership Program.

## Sources and official resources

- [Maryland Department of Health: Nursing Facility Residents, Recipients and Families](https://health.maryland.gov/mmcp/longtermcare/pages/nursing-facility-residents,-recipients-and-family-members.aspx)
- [Maryland Insurance Administration: Long-Term Care Insurance](https://insurance.maryland.gov/Consumer/pages/longtermcare.aspx)
- [Maryland Insurance Administration: Consumer Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance](https://insurance.maryland.gov/Consumer/Documents/publications/longtermcare.pdf)
- [CMS: 2026 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards](https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/cib04272026.pdf)
- [U.S. Code: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p (liens, estate recovery, transfers of assets, Partnership disregard)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1396p)

Rules and figures change. Confirm current details with the agency before you act.