Medicaid long-term care for Polk County residents

How does Florida Medicaid cover long-term care?

Through the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care program (SMMC LTC): an enrollee picks a managed care plan, and the plan pays either for nursing home care or for home and community-based services, which include services delivered in assisted living facilities and adult family care homes.

Eligibility requires age 65 or older (or 18 or older with a disability), a finding that the person needs nursing facility level of care, and financial eligibility determined by the Department of Children and Families. Medicaid choice counseling, 1-877-711-3662, explains which plans operate in Polk County.

What are the 2026 income and asset limits?

DCF's April 2026 standards set the long-term care income limit at $2,982 a month for one person (300 percent of the $994 SSI benefit rate) and the asset limit at $2,000; when both members of a couple apply, the figures are $5,964 and $3,000.

Source: Florida DCF transmittal I-26-02-0003 (Feb. 24, 2026), Appendix A-7, SSI-Related Medicaid Financial Eligibility Standards, April 2026.

Florida caps income, but a person above $2,982 can still qualify by routing the excess into a qualified income trust every month. The home is generally excluded up to $752,000 of equity if the applicant intends to return or a spouse or dependent lives there.

Is there a wait for Medicaid home care in Polk County?

Usually, for home and community-based services: a person not yet enrolled is screened by Senior Connection Center, Polk County's Aging and Disability Resource Center, placed on a statewide wait list ranked by priority, and released as funding allows; a current nursing home resident applying for nursing home Medicaid skips that list.

Senior Connection Center is at 1-800-336-2226. Ask for a screening as soon as care needs are clear, because priority scores and screening dates both affect when someone is released from the list.

Will Florida Medicaid pay for assisted living in Polk County?

Partly: Medicaid long-term care plans pay for assisted living services such as personal care and medication assistance in ALFs that contract with the plan, but not for room and board, which the resident pays from income, keeping a personal needs allowance of room and board plus 20 percent of the federal poverty level ($266 for one person in 2026).

24 Polk County ALFs list Medicaid services on their AHCA profiles (7 list the assisted living waiver, 19 list assistive care services). Plan networks change, so confirm that both the facility and the plan accept each other before a move.

How much income does a nursing home resident on Medicaid keep?

A personal needs allowance of $160 a month under DCF's 2026 standards; most of the remaining income goes to the nursing home as the resident's share of cost, called patient responsibility.

A spouse who still lives at home keeps protected assets up to $162,660 and may receive income up to the maintenance allowance. See spousal rules and qualified income trusts.