Updated September 5, 2026. Quick answer: Minnesota is often filed as a flat 300%-cap state; it is not. The Department of Human Services’ own training material shows the $2,982-a-month figure (2026) is a “Special Income Standard” used for Elderly Waiver income criteria, not the eligibility ceiling itself. Someone above it does not simply lose eligibility the way they would in a pure income-cap state; a separate, lower spend-down obligation for ongoing long-term-care Medicaid applies underneath it.
What the $2,982 figure actually gates
Minnesota DHS’s own training page states: “The SIS amount is equal to three times the Supplemental Security Income Federal Benefit Rate (FBR).” The Eligibility Policy Manual’s Appendix F separately lists the SIS for “January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026 $2,982”. The Special Income Standard (SIS) functions in this material as part of the Elderly Waiver income test, not as a flat statement that anyone over it is ineligible.
What is not independently confirmed here
This session confirmed the $2,982 SIS figure directly from Minnesota’s Eligibility Policy Manual (Appendix F), but did not independently confirm the exact dollar figure of the separate, lower ongoing spend-down standard that governs actual medical assistance long-term-care eligibility once the SIS gate is passed. That figure is deliberately left unstated here rather than approximated.
Figures verified against the Minnesota Health Care Programs Eligibility Policy Manual (Appendix F and section 2.4.2.5), the DHS Special Income Standard training page, and the Federal Register 2026 SSI notice on September 30, 2026; the dollar size of the separate LTC spend-down was not re-checked.
| Citation | Minnesota Department of Human Services training page, The Special Income Standard (SIS) |
| What it says | “The SIS amount is equal to three times the Supplemental Security Income Federal Benefit Rate (FBR).” (training page). EPM Appendix F: “January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026 $2,982”. |
This page covers the income eligibility figure itself. How a state handles income above that figure (a Qualified Income Trust, a medically needy spend-down, or something else) is covered on Minnesota’s excess income mechanism page.
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 rule amendment, and a county or state caseworker has the final say on any individual application.