Updated August 27, 2026. Quick answer: Tennessee calls it the CSRMA, and it is the only state page in this series whose manual prints the whole history. “The amount of the CSRMA, based on the year of the snapshot date of the resource assessment, is the greater of: i. One-half (1/2) of the total countable resources, but not less than $32,532 or greater than $162,660 (as of January 2026);” The manual then lists the same sentence for every year back to 2014 — because the figures that govern a case are the ones in force on the snapshot date, not the ones in force when the application is filed.
What Tennessee actually sets out
| What the state provides | What it says |
|---|---|
| Tennessee’s name for it | the Community Spouse Resource Maintenance Allowance (CSRMA), TennCare policy 125.015 |
| What it is measured on | “The CSRMA is based on the spouses’ combined countable resources documented in the resource assessment.” |
| The 2026 figures | “The amount of the CSRMA, based on the year of the snapshot date of the resource assessment, is the greater of: i. One-half (1/2) of the total countable resources, but not less than $32,532 or greater than $162,660 (as of January 2026);” |
| The 2025 figures | “One-half (1/2) of the total countable resources, but not less than $31,584 or greater than $157,920 (as of January 2025);” |
| The 2018 figures, still live for a 2018 snapshot | “One-half (1/2) of the total countable resources, but not less than $24,720 or greater than $123,600 (as of January 2018);” |
| Who must have one | “All individuals with a spouse must have a Resource Assessment completed prior to receiving an eligibility determination in the Institutional Medicaid category.” |
| What the facility must tell you | “LTCFs are required by law to notify all admitted residents, spouses, and representatives of their right to request an assessment of the resident’s assets and the assets of the community spouse.” |
| It does not expire | “If a resource assessment is completed and the individual applies for TennCare Medicaid, but is found ineligible, the original resource assessment is still valid if the individual applies again in the future.” |
| The spouse at home may refuse it | “A community spouse who receives Families First (FF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), TennCare Medicaid, Veterans Affairs (VA) pension, Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) benefits, or other needs-based assistance may accept or decline all, some or none of the CSRMA if the allocation would cause the loss of or decrease in those program benefits.” |
| Then | “None of the community spouse’s share of the resources is considered available to the individual when determining his TennCare Medicaid eligibility.” |
How it works in practice
- The snapshot year is the load-bearing fact on this page, and it is the one most often got wrong. TennCare states the allowance is set “based on the year of the snapshot date of the resource assessment”, then prints a separate figure pair for each year. A couple whose continuous care began in 2018 is measured against “One-half (1/2) of the total countable resources, but not less than $24,720 or greater than $123,600 (as of January 2018);” — not against the 2026 pair, even if they apply in 2026. Reading today’s number off a chart and applying it to an older snapshot is the error the manual’s structure exists to prevent.
- The assessment does not go stale. “If a resource assessment is completed and the individual applies for TennCare Medicaid, but is found ineligible, the original resource assessment is still valid if the individual applies again in the future.” A couple turned down once does not start over; the original assessment, and the year it was keyed to, still governs.
- The spouse at home can say no, and this is the most valuable provision on the page. “A community spouse who receives Families First (FF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), TennCare Medicaid, Veterans Affairs (VA) pension, Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) benefits, or other needs-based assistance may accept or decline all, some or none of the CSRMA if the allocation would cause the loss of or decrease in those program benefits.” A community spouse living on SSI, SNAP or a VA pension can be made worse off by receiving a large allocation of resources, because those programs have their own asset limits. Tennessee lets them take part of it, or none.
- Once set, the allocated share is out of reach of the state’s calculation. “None of the community spouse’s share of the resources is considered available to the individual when determining his TennCare Medicaid eligibility.” That is what the allowance is for.
- The assessment is mandatory, not something to be requested. “All individuals with a spouse must have a Resource Assessment completed prior to receiving an eligibility determination in the Institutional Medicaid category.” And a facility carries its own duty: “LTCFs are required by law to notify all admitted residents, spouses, and representatives of their right to request an assessment of the resident’s assets and the assets of the community spouse.”
- The 2026 pair on this page — a $32,532 floor and a $162,660 ceiling — is the federal pair, and TennCare’s manual is one of five state documents read across this series that state it independently. That agreement is why this page is willing to print the figures at all.
What the allowance is for, and why protecting the spouse at home is a federal requirement rather than a state kindness, is explained on the community spouse resource allowance page. The date the couple’s resources are counted is its own subject, on the snapshot date page, and the monthly income allowance that runs alongside it is on the MMMNA page. This page is the record for Tennessee.
What this page does not settle
- The year-by-year table is quoted here only in part. TennCare prints rows for 2014 through 2026; this page reproduces 2026, 2025 and 2018 to show the shape, and a case turning on any other year should be read against the manual itself rather than inferred from three rows.
- This page reads one source: TennCare Aged, Blind and Disabled Manual, Policy 125.015, Resource Assessment, January 5, 2026. It is the state’s own publication on this rule, but no state puts its whole treatment of a couple’s resources in a single document, and a detail that decides your case may sit in one this page did not read.
- The resource rule is one hurdle. The income rules for the spouse at home are separate and are decided on their own numbers, the level-of-care test is separate again, and the transfer-of-assets look-back is separate from all of them. Clearing this rule does not clear any of the others.
- Every quotation here was read against the source on August 27, 2026. The federal minimum and maximum figures are reset each January, and a state can revise its own rule without the page around it changing. Open the source before you rely on a number.
Eligibility is decided by the state agency on the whole file, not by one rule on one page. Nothing here is legal advice, and no one should move, retitle or spend a couple’s savings on the strength of a web page.
Sources
The source above was retrieved and read against the state text on August 27, 2026. Every quotation on this page was checked against those bytes.
The spouse at home usually needs legal authority to act as well as the resource allowance, and when no document grants it, what adult guardianship costs in Tennessee gives the fees Tennessee fixes by statute and says where the state publishes no figure at all.
Related: Tennessee’s Long-Term Care Partnership Program status; a separate, policy-based way some families protect assets alongside this spend-down allowance.