Updated September 5, 2026. Quick answer: Rhode Island’s Medicaid home equity limit for a single nursing-home applicant is $752,000 as of 2026, and Rhode Island’s own policy document states directly that this is the federal MINIMUM under 42 U.S.C. Section 1396p(f), not the $1,130,000 maximum some states use. If your equity is above that figure, you are not eligible for nursing-home Medicaid unless a spouse, minor child, or disabled child of any age lives in the home.
What Rhode Island’s own document says
Rhode Island is one of only two states in this dataset (with Delaware) whose own document states outright, in plain language, that it has elected the federal minimum rather than the maximum.
Why this is the lower federal figure, not the higher one
Rhode Island’s own document does not just publish a number; it states outright that the state has elected the LOWER end of the federally permitted range. Federal law under 42 U.S.C. Section 1396p(f) lets each state pick anywhere between an annually-adjusted minimum and maximum; for 2026 that range runs from $752,000 to $1,130,000. Rhode Island chose the minimum, which most secondary Medicaid-planning sites do not distinguish from the more commonly assumed maximum.
| Citation | Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Medicaid Policy Transmittal #25-04, ‘Annual SSI, Spousal Impoverishment, and MPPP Updates’ |
| What it says | “Federal law permits states to choose a Home Equity Limit within a range set by CMS and the State uses the minimum Home Equity Limit allowable under CMS guidelines… Home Equity Limit $730,000 $752,000” |
This page covers whether the home counts as a resource while you are alive and applying. What happens to the same house after death is a separate question: see the Medicaid estate recovery by state table, which gives Rhode Island’s row for what the state can reach and the authority for it. And if a spouse, or a minor or disabled child, still lives in the home, the equity limit on this page does not apply at all: see what the law protects for a spouse who stays at home.
Every citation on this page was read directly from the state’s own Medicaid agency, administrative code, or official eligibility manual this session. General information, not legal or financial advice; a figure this specific can change with a budget cycle or a federal inflation adjustment, and a county or state caseworker has the final say on any individual application.