Updated August 27, 2026. Quick answer: South Carolina divides uncompensated transfers by $9,758.58 a month, or $320.83 a day, effective January 1, 2026. The manual is explicit that the answer is NOT rounded down: the leftover fraction is multiplied by 30 to give the penalty in days.
The figure South Carolina publishes
| What the state lists | Figure |
|---|---|
| Current average private pay nursing home rate, MPPM Chapter 304 Appendix D | $9,758.58 per month |
| The same rate stated per day | $320.83 |
| Effective date printed on Appendix D | January 1, 2026 |
How the penalty period is calculated
- Total the uncompensated value of all assets transferred by the applicant and by the community spouse, then divide by the state’s most current average private pay nursing home rate.
- Use the CURRENT rate. The manual says in terms not to use the average pay rate that was in effect at the time the transfer occurred.
- Do not round the answer down. Carry it to two places, then multiply the fractional part of the month by 30 days to get the partial-month penalty in days.
- The manual’s own worked example divides a $10,000 transfer by the rate above to get 1.02, and 0.02 multiplied by 30 rounds down to a whole day.
- There is no maximum penalty period, and the look-back is 60 months before the date the person was institutionalized and applied, or applied as a non-institutionalized person.
Once you have the figure above, the Medicaid penalty period calculator does the arithmetic. This page is the South Carolina rate record; the calculator is the class parent.
What this page does not settle
- Appendix D’s main table is a list of per-facility average monthly MEDICAID payment rates. Those are different figures from the statewide private pay rate and none of them is the divisor; the divisor is the note printed above the table.
- The same average private pay rate is used elsewhere in the manual for the Reasonable Expectation Reduction Period, which is a different calculation with a different purpose.
- Appendix D is dated 1/1/26 and the per-facility table is dated January 1, 2026, so a later revision of the manual can move both the rate and the table together.
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
- South Carolina Medicaid Policy and Procedures Manual, Chapter 304 Appendix D, Current Average Monthly Nursing Facility and Medicaid Payment Rates (the figure)
- South Carolina Medicaid Policy and Procedures Manual index (MPPM 304.09.05, Calculating the Penalty Period, is the method)
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: South Carolina’s Medicaid home equity limit for a single applicant with no spouse or dependent child at home.
Related: South Carolina’s Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance; the amount a nursing-facility resident keeps from their own income each month.