Will Medicaid “Take” My Wedding Ring?

When someone applies for long-term care Medicaid — the needs-based program that pays for nursing home, assisted living, or in-home care for seniors and individuals with disabilities — they must demonstrate that their assets are under a specific limit. In Wisconsin, single individuals have a limit of only $2,000 in countable assets. Married individuals are allowed more based upon a specific calculation under the spousal impoverishment rules. In either circumstance, it is a terrifyingly low amount, and many families have questions about what counts towards that limit.

Wedding and engagement rings are one of the few bright spots in an otherwise stressful process. In Wisconsin, they are treated as exempt personal property. More specifically, the Medicaid Eligibility Handbook (the “MEH”) identifies wedding and engagement rights as “personal effects” similar to clothing, family photos, and other items of sentimental value. The MEH states, “Do not count personal effects as an asset.”

Why are rings treated differently than other jewelry?

Medicaid’s “liquid asset” rules generally distinguish between:

• Personal effects — clothing, wedding rings, engagement rings, family heirlooms, keepsakes, personal care items — usually fully exempt, regardless of value.
• Other jewelry held for its value or as an investment — loose gemstones, gold coins, or jewelry collections kept for their resale value — can be considered a countable resource (asset).

The logic is that a wedding ring is a personal item you wear and keep, not a financial holding. Medicaid caseworkers aren’t expected to appraise and count a wedding ring the way they’d count a bank account or a stock portfolio.

How does this fit into the big picture of applying for Medicaid?

Wedding and engagement rings sit within a broader category of exempt assets that also typically includes:

• Primary home
• One vehicle
• Household furnishings and appliances
• Clothing and personal effects
• A limited amount of life insurance
• Pre-paid burial arrangements

The reasoning is the same throughout: Medicaid’s asset test is meant to identify assets that could reasonably be liquidated to pay for care, not to force people to give up the roof over their head, the car they need to get to appointments, or the ring on their finger.

If you or a family member is applying for Medicaid, you generally don’t need to report, sell, or worry about a wedding or engagement ring — it isn’t going to be counted against your asset limit. The bigger planning questions usually involve savings, retirement accounts, inheritances, additional parcels of real estate (hunting land, the cabin, the farm), and the home. If you have questions about applying for or maintaining eligibility for Wisconsin Medicaid, our elder law attorneys are a resource for you and can help you through the process.