SCDHHS's long-term-care manual sets a countable-resource ceiling of $2,000 or less for an institutionalized individual. Separately, CMS's 2026 federal standards list $2,000 as the SSI resource standard for an individual and $3,000 for an eligible couple — though that federal couple figure is only a baseline and doesn't substitute for South Carolina's own married-applicant assessment and community-spouse policy.
Determining what counts as a resource is more nuanced than checking an account balance. Ownership, availability, applicable exclusions, spousal status, and the exact date institutionalization began can all shift the analysis. Because the state manual treats an institutionalized person differently from a spouse remaining in the community, a married applicant should request a full spousal-resource assessment rather than relying on the individual limit alone.