For institutional Medicaid, New York enforces a full 60-month (five-year) look-back on nursing-facility applications. Any transfer made for less than fair market value during that window can trigger a Medicaid transfer penalty.
That makes timing and paperwork critical well before anyone files an institutional Medicaid application — a gift or transfer made without accounting for this rule can delay eligibility considerably.
Notably, the community-care side of the picture looks different: a proposed 30-month look-back for community-based Medicaid has been discussed for years but, as of August 2026, still hadn't been put into effect.