---
title: "Pennsylvania Medicaid Look-Back Period | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/pennsylvania/medicaid-look-back-period/
description: "Pennsylvania's five-year transfer review, daily-rate penalty formula, and why the penalty starts only when the person is otherwise eligible."
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.
---
Pennsylvania · Look-Back & Penalties

# Pennsylvania Medicaid Look-Back Period

Last updated 2026-10-20

Pennsylvania DHS looks back five full years — 60 months — before a long-term-care MA application, reviewing any transfers made for less than fair market value during that window.

That's a genuine 60-month standard, not some shorter grace period after which a gift is forgotten. It applies the same way Florida's look-back page describes its own 60-month framework, though each state administers the review and any resulting penalty differently.

Anyone weighing a transfer strategy in this window should also look at the Crisis Planning / Half-a-Loaf pillar for how a penalty period interacts with otherwise-established eligibility.

## Pennsylvania figures

- Look-back period: 60 months

## Sources and official resources

- [Pennsylvania DHS: Medicaid and Payment of Long-Term Services](https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dhs/resources/aging-physical-disabilities/medicaid-payment-long-term-care)
- [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.

[← Back to the full Pennsylvania guide](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/pennsylvania/)