---
title: "Texas Nursing Home Medicaid | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/nursing-home-medicaid/
description: "Texas nursing-facility Medicaid eligibility, the $75 personal-needs allowance, co-payment calculation, and the 30-consecutive-day facility requirement."
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.
---
Texas · Nursing Home Coverage

# Texas Nursing Home Medicaid

Last updated 2026-10-20

**Quick answer:** To qualify for Texas nursing home Medicaid, an applicant must be 65 or older or disabled, meet medical necessity, and live in a Medicaid-contracted facility for at least 30 consecutive days. The 2026 income limit is $2,982 a month; above that, a Qualified Income Trust is typically needed.

Getting into Texas nursing-facility Medicaid requires clearing both a medical gate and a financial one. HHSC's published criteria call for the applicant to be 65 or older, or to meet the Social Security definition of disability; to meet medical-necessity standards; to be a Texas resident and either a U.S. citizen or a qualified alien; and to have resided in a Medicaid-contracted long-term-care facility for at least 30 consecutive days. The financial side of eligibility is assessed separately from all of that (HHSC Appendix XII).

For 2026, the institutional special income limit sits at $2,982 a month for a single applicant. Anyone whose countable income lands above that figure typically needs a compliant Qualified Income Trust rather than relying on an income spend-down, which isn't available in Texas (HHSC Appendix XXXVI).

## Texas figures

- Minimum consecutive days in facility: 30 days
- Institutional special income limit (2026): $2,982/month
- Personal-needs allowance: $75

## 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)
- [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 Texas guide](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/texas/)