---
title: "Long-Term Care Funding in Texas | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/
description: "Texas Medicaid long-term care rules for 2026: income-cap model, Qualified Income Trusts, Lady Bird deeds, and STAR+PLUS 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 Texas

Texas runs long-term care Medicaid on the same hard-income-cap model Florida uses, but with its own delivery system, its own numbers, and its own legal quirks layered on top. STAR+PLUS manages the bulk of long-term services and supports, a Qualified Income Trust is often mandatory rather than optional, and the state recognizes the Lady Bird deed the same way Florida does — through case law rather than a dedicated statute.

Every figure and program name below reflects how the Texas Health and Human Services Commission runs these programs today, broken down pillar by pillar for Texas specifically.

## Why Texas is different

- **A hard income cap paired with a mandatory trust mechanism.** Income over the cap can't be solved with a spend-down; HHSC requires a properly structured, compliant Qualified Income Trust for applicants in that situation.
- **Lady Bird deeds, but built on case law.** Texas recognizes the enhanced life estate deed through court decisions and practice rather than a specific statute — a tool it shares with Florida.
- **Homestead protection needs careful handling.** The one confirmed safeguard against the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program is an administrative hardship waiver, including a specific modest-homestead provision — Texas's constitutional homestead protection isn't itself a verified blanket bar to recovery after death.
- **Home care access runs on two different tracks.** STAR+PLUS home and community-based services is capped and uses an interest list, while Community First Choice operates as an open State Plan benefit — and older wait-time figures from 2022 shouldn't be treated as current.

## Texas at a glance

- Individual income cap: $2,982/month
- Individual resource limit: $2,000
- Community spouse resource allowance: $32,532 to $162,660
- Look-back period: 60 months
- Transfer penalty divisor: $262.37/day
- Couple income cap: $5,964/month
- MMMNA allocation: Up to $4,066.50

## 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. | [Texas Medicaid Look-Back Period](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/medicaid-look-back-period/)[Texas VA Aid and Attendance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/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. | [Texas VA Aid and Attendance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/va-aid-attendance/)[Texas Long-Term Care Planning](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/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. | Texas Long-Term Care Insurance[Texas Long-Term Care Planning](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/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. | [Texas VA Aid and Attendance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/va-aid-attendance/) |
| Owns significant home equityThe home is usually Medicaid-exempt during life but affects estate recovery and private-pay runway. | [Texas Lady Bird Deed](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/lady-bird-deed/)[Texas Medicaid Long-Term Care](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/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. | Texas Long-Term Care Insurance[Texas Medicaid Long-Term Care](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/medicaid-long-term-care/) |

## The 10 funding pillars in Texas

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

- [Texas Medicaid Long-Term Care](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/medicaid-long-term-care/) (Medicaid Program): How Texas delivers long-term services and supports through STAR+PLUS, and why its income-cap rules make a Qualified Income Trust essential for some applicants.

- [Texas Medicaid Asset Limits](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/medicaid-asset-limits/) (Financial Eligibility): Texas's 2026 $2,000 individual resource limit, $3,000 couple limit, income cap, Qualified Income Trust rule, and protections for a spouse at home.

- [Texas Medicaid Look-Back Period](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/medicaid-look-back-period/) (Look-Back & Penalties): Texas's 60-month transfer review, the current $262.37 daily penalty divisor, and why timing a gift without legal advice can delay long-term-care Medicaid.

- [Texas Lady Bird Deed](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/lady-bird-deed/) (Asset Protection Tool): How Texas's enhanced life estate deed preserves the owner's control, avoids probate, and is shaped by Burt and Wright rather than a dedicated statute.

- [Texas Medicaid Estate Recovery](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/medicaid-estate-recovery/) (Estate Recovery): Texas's probate-only Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, its age-55 long-term-care scope, and the confirmed administrative hardship-waiver process for qualifying heirs.

- [Texas Nursing Home Medicaid](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/nursing-home-medicaid/) (Nursing Home Coverage): Texas nursing-facility Medicaid eligibility, the $75 personal-needs allowance, co-payment calculation, and the 30-consecutive-day facility requirement.

- [Texas Home Care Medicaid](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/home-care-medicaid/) (Home & Community Care): STAR+PLUS HCBS and Community First Choice: two Texas routes to in-home support with different eligibility and interest-list realities.

- [Texas Long-Term Care Planning](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/long-term-care-planning/) (Planning Ahead): Texas planning priorities: income-cap compliance, Qualified Income Trust administration, transfer timing, home decisions, and probate-only estate recovery.

- [Texas VA Aid and Attendance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/va-aid-attendance/) (VA Benefits): How VA Aid and Attendance fits with Texas Medicaid, Texas State Veterans Homes, and the disabled-veteran residence-homestead property-tax exemption.

- [Texas Long-Term Care Insurance](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/long-term-care-insurance/) (LTC Insurance): Texas regulation of long-term-care insurance, the open Partnership Program's dollar-for-dollar Medicaid resource disregard, and the 30-day free-look protection.

Participates in the State Long-Term Care Partnership Program.

## Sources and official resources

- [Texas HHSC MEPD Handbook: Appendix XII, Nursing Facility and HCBS Waiver Information](https://fhb.hhs.texas.gov/handbooks/medicaid-elderly-people-disabilities-handbook/appendix-xii-nursing-facility-home-community-based-services-waiver-information)
- [Texas Department of Insurance: Long-Term Care](https://www.tdi.texas.gov/consumer/long-term-insurance.html)
- [Texas Department of Insurance: Long-Term Care Resources (Partnership)](https://www.tdi.texas.gov/consumer/hicap/hicapltc05.html)
- [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.