Updated August 27, 2026. Quick answer: Nebraska publishes no statewide divisor, and unlike most states in that position it is not a gap in what has been promulgated — the rule deliberately points at a different figure. 477 NAC 23-003.04(H) divides the countable value of the disposed resource by “the actual monthly cost of care in the specified living arrangement at the current private pay rate.” The divisor is the real monthly private-pay charge at the facility the person is actually in. Two Nebraskans who gave away the same amount can serve different penalties, and the number you need is on a specific facility’s rate sheet.
What Nebraska publishes
| What the state lists | Figure |
|---|---|
| Statewide divisor | none published — and none is contemplated by the rule |
| What the rule divides by instead | the actual monthly cost of care in the specified living arrangement at the current private pay rate |
| Divisor period | monthly — the quotient is a number of months |
| Whose rate applies | the facility the person is in, not a state average |
| The section that states it | 477 NAC 23-003.04(H) |
| Look-back | 60 months before the month of application — 477 NAC 23-003.04(G) |
| What triggers the look-back | the first date the person both applies for Medicaid and is in, or enters, a specified living arrangement |
| Retroactive months | the look-back may include the three months before the application month if retroactive benefits are requested |
| Partial months | the fraction is converted to a dollar amount and counted as UNEARNED INCOME for that month — not extra days |
| Both spouses eligible | the period of ineligibility is divided equally between them |
| Chapter and effective date | 477 NAC 23, Resources for Non-MAGI Programs, effective October 4, 2020 |
| Title | 477 NAC — Medicaid Eligibility, 29 chapters |
How the penalty period is calculated
- 477 NAC 23-003.04(H) is the whole arithmetic: “To determine the length of the period of ineligibility the countable value of the resource will be divided by the actual monthly cost of care in the specified living arrangement at the current private pay rate.”
- The countable value is built first, under 23-003.04(G)(i): take the equity the client had in the resource at disposition — fair market value minus encumbrances — then subtract any compensation received.
- Nebraska handles the remainder in a way no other state in this series does. Where other states convert a leftover fraction into extra days, 477 NAC 23-003.04(I) provides that “if the division results in a fraction, the fraction is converted to a dollar amount and this amount is included as unearned income for the applicable month.” The tail of the penalty arrives as countable income, not as more days of ineligibility.
- The penalty begins with the month of entry into a specified living arrangement if the person is already receiving Medicaid (after notice), or with the first month benefits are requested if the person is an applicant.
- A penalty is only imposed on someone who would otherwise qualify: 23-003.04(I) requires the person to be Medicaid eligible, except for the deprivation of resources, in the month benefits are requested.
- Because the divisor is the facility’s own current private-pay rate, the practical step is to get that rate in writing from the admissions or business office and date it. The state publishes no table you can look it up in.
Once you have the figure above, the Medicaid penalty period calculator does the arithmetic. This page is the Nebraska rate record; the calculator is the class parent.
What this page does not settle
- The negative claim on this page was made across the whole title, not one chapter. All 29 chapters of 477 NAC — 341,586 characters of regulation text — were retrieved from the Secretary of State’s rules system and scanned. The word “divisor” appears zero times; so do “uncompensated” and any average daily or monthly cost used to compute a penalty. The transfer provisions live in Chapter 23 and they name the facility’s own rate.
- The chapter text was read twice through independent channels that agree: the rules system’s stored chapter text, and the official signed chapter PDF (477 NAC 23, dated 10-04-2020) retrieved separately. Both carry the same sentence.
- This page cannot give you the number, because Nebraska’s number is a fact about one building at one moment. Anyone quoting a single “Nebraska divisor” is quoting an average the state does not use.
- Chapter 23 took effect on October 4, 2020 and had not been amended when it was read. A later amendment could introduce a statewide figure; nothing in the current text does.
- Nothing here settles whether a transfer is penalised at all, how a trust or annuity is treated, or whether hardship applies. Those are separate provisions decided on a specific file.
Eligibility is decided by the state agency on the whole file, not by this one number. Nothing here is legal advice, and no one should transfer, retitle or give away property on the strength of a worksheet.
Sources
- Nebraska Rules and Regulations, the Secretary of State’s rules portal — the system all 29 chapters of Title 477 were retrieved from
- Nebraska DHHS, Title 477 — Medicaid Eligibility, the department’s own chapter index
- Nebraska DHHS Regulations — the department index Title 477 is published under
Each source above was retrieved and read against the state text on August 27, 2026. Every figure on this page was checked against those bytes.
Related: Nebraska’s Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance; the amount a nursing-facility resident keeps from their own income each month.