Virginia Long-Term-Care & Medicaid Planning
Virginia Long-Term-Care & Medicaid Runway Calculator
Know where you stand before care drains a lifetime of savings.
Estimate how long private pay may last, whether Medicaid spend-down is likely, and which planning issues are urgent. Free, and it takes a few minutes.
Start the calculatorInformational only. Not legal advice, and not a determination of eligibility.
What you will learn
Three answers in a few minutes
Private-pay runway
About how many months your savings may cover care at your current burn rate, before Medicaid becomes the question.
Medicaid readiness
Whether you appear to be over the resource limit, and whether your income fits the standard path or points to a monthly spend-down.
Issues to review now
Transfers, a spouse at home, powers of attorney, trusts, and other flags worth an attorney's eyes before you apply.
Who this is for
Families in Virginia facing a this-month or next-few-months long-term-care decision: a parent or spouse entering a nursing facility, a hospital discharge with no placement, or a slow drain of savings toward care. If you are asking how to pay for care and whether Medicaid is close, this tool gives you a fast, honest read before you talk to a lawyer.
It covers Virginia nursing facility, PACE, and home and community-based waiver situations. It does not decide eligibility, and it is careful to flag, rather than guess at, the issues that need professional judgment.
Grounded in current law
The Virginia rules this reflects (2026)
The estimate is built on current Virginia and federal long-term-care Medicaid figures, reviewed against primary sources. Rules change, so confirm anything load-bearing with an attorney before you act.
- Resource limit: $2,000 for one person, $3,000 for a couple when both apply. A home, one car, and certain assets are generally exempt.
- Income cap (special income standard): $2,982 per month, which is 300% of the federal SSI benefit rate. Above it, Virginia uses a medical spend-down, not a Qualified Income Trust.
- Spouse-at-home protection: the community spouse resource allowance runs from a $32,532 floor to a $162,660 maximum, subject to a formal resource assessment.
- Home equity limit: $752,000 for 2026.
- Transfer look-back: 60 months. Gifts inside that window can create a penalty period, with exceptions.
- Personal needs allowance: $40 per month for a nursing-facility resident.
See your numbers
Answer a few questions and get your private-pay runway, Medicaid readiness, and the issues to review, with an option to book a Virginia crisis-planning consult.
Start the calculatorCommon questions
Virginia Medicaid, in plain English
How long will my savings last in a Virginia nursing home?
It depends on your monthly care cost and your income. A rough estimate is your spendable savings divided by your monthly shortfall (care cost minus the income you can put toward care). This calculator gives you a private-pay runway range in minutes. Nursing facility care in Virginia commonly runs from roughly $7,000 to well over $10,000 per month depending on the locality and level of care.
What is the Medicaid asset limit in Virginia?
For an aged, blind, or disabled applicant, Virginia's countable resource limit is $2,000 for one person and $3,000 for a couple when both are applying. Not everything counts: a primary residence, one vehicle, and certain other assets are generally exempt. Because what counts and what is exempt is fact-specific, treat any online estimate as a starting point, not a determination.
Does Virginia allow a Miller Trust (Qualified Income Trust)?
No. Virginia is not a Miller Trust (Qualified Income Trust) state. If income exceeds the special income standard, there is no QIT pathway to qualify the way some other states allow. Instead, a monthly medical spend-down may apply. Do not rely on Miller trust information written for other states.
What is the Medicaid look-back period in Virginia?
Virginia reviews asset transfers made in the 60 months (five years) before a long-term-care Medicaid application. Uncompensated gifts within that window can create a penalty period. Some transfers are exempt or curable, so a transfer within the look-back is a reason to get legal review before applying, not an automatic disqualification.
Will Medicaid take my house in Virginia?
Not while you or, in many cases, a spouse or certain dependent relatives live in it. The home is often an exempt resource during life. Separately, Virginia's estate recovery program (MERP) can seek repayment from the estate after death, and how the home is titled (for example, a transfer-on-death deed or life estate) affects that exposure. This is a common planning issue worth reviewing.
What is the community spouse resource allowance in Virginia?
When one spouse needs long-term care and the other stays at home, spousal impoverishment rules let the at-home spouse keep a protected share of the couple's countable resources. In 2026 that protected amount ranges from a floor of $32,532 to a maximum of $162,660, subject to the state's official resource assessment. The exact figure turns on a snapshot of the couple's resources, so a formal review is important.
How much does long-term care in Virginia cost per month?
Virginia publishes an average monthly private-pay nursing-facility figure used to calculate Medicaid transfer penalties: about $9,703 per month for Northern Virginia localities and about $7,324 per month for the rest of the state. Actual private-pay rates vary by facility and level of care.
Is this calculator legal advice?
No. It is a free educational estimate based on the information you enter and Virginia rules in effect on the date shown. It is not a determination of Medicaid eligibility, level-of-care approval, transfer-penalty length, or patient pay, and using it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your situation, speak with a Virginia elder-law attorney.