---
title: "New Mexico Long-Term Care Planning | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/new-mexico/long-term-care-planning/
description: "New Mexico planning centers on its income cap, Income Diversion Trust rules, five-year review, and Partnership protection."
last_updated: 2026-10-20
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.
---
New Mexico · Planning Ahead

# New Mexico Long-Term Care Planning

Last updated 2026-10-20

A New Mexico long-term-care plan has to start by treating income and resources as genuinely separate problems. HCA's 2026 sheet sets the IC/Waiver income standard at $2,982 per month and the individual resource limit at $2,000, and reducing countable assets down to that resource limit does nothing on its own to solve an applicant's excess monthly income — the two figures require different fixes (HCA 2026 ABD Medicaid programs sheet).

New Mexico's specific answer for income above the standard is the Income Diversion Trust. HCA policy allows an applicant whose income exceeds the standard to become eligible once such a trust is created and funded, but the rules are exacting: the trust must be composed only of the person's pension, Social Security, and other income, and any funds left unused at death must reimburse the state up to the total Medicaid benefits paid on that person's behalf (HCA 8.281.510 NMAC trust policy).

A complete plan also has to account for the state's 60-month transfer look-back, its published 2026 transfer-penalty divisor of $9,209 per month, and the availability of Partnership-qualified long-term-care insurance for dollar-for-dollar asset protection. Because New Mexico's estate recovery reaches only probate assets, home-title planning — including use of the state's revocable transfer-on-death deed — plays a different role here than it does in states with expanded, non-probate recovery.

## New Mexico figures

- IC/Waiver income standard: $2,982/month
- Individual resource limit: $2,000
- 2026 transfer-penalty divisor: $9,209/month

## Sources and official resources

- [New Mexico HCA: Community Benefit Program](https://www.hca.nm.gov/community-benefit-program/)
- [CMS: 2026 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards](https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/cib04272026.pdf)

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

[← Back to the full New Mexico guide](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/new-mexico/)