Haris Ashley
Missouri's Medicaid program, MO HealthNet, offers long-term care support for seniors who cannot afford it. To qualify, applicants must meet specific income, asset, and medical requirements. When it comes to life insurance, the determination of whether you can keep it depends on whether the policy has a cash surrender value. If it does not, you can keep it. If it does, Missouri's rules allow you to keep one policy with a face value of up to $1500 or opt for a prepaid funeral. Understanding Medicaid eligibility and life insurance considerations is essential for Missouri residents seeking to protect their assets and ensure peace of mind.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of Medicaid in Missouri | MO HealthNet |
| Administered by | Missouri Department of Social Services |
| Funding | Jointly funded by the state and federal government |
| Eligibility | Low-income persons of all ages, senior citizens, people with disabilities, people with nursing home costs |
| Income limitations | All income, except a $50 personal needs allowance, must go towards care costs |
| Asset limitations | Assets under $5,909.25 |
| Medical requirements | Must require care for at least 30 consecutive days |
| Life insurance policy | Cannot have a cash surrender value |
| Enrollment | Online through MO HealthNet, by phone, or with a paper application |
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What You'll Learn
Cash surrender value
Life insurance comes in two primary forms: term life and permanent life. Term life insurance is typically less expensive but it only lasts for a limited period—the policy term is typically 10 or 20 years. Term policies don’t build cash value, so there’s no cash surrender value.
Permanent life insurance, on the other hand, builds cash value and is available in several forms. The most popular types of permanent insurance are whole life and universal life. Whole life insurance has a guaranteed premium and a guaranteed cash value. With whole life, you pay the same premium each month for the life of the policy, and your cash value grows at a rate guaranteed by your insurance company. If you get the policy from a mutual company, you may also earn dividends, which can help the cash value grow beyond the guaranteed value.
Universal life insurance typically costs less than whole life but does not provide the same guarantees. Both the cash value and cash surrender value amount are based on current interest rates, which may go up or down throughout the life of the policy. Universal life policies also let you raise or lower your premium payments within a certain limit.
The cash surrender value of your life insurance policy is the amount of cash you may withdraw if you surrender your policy to the insurance company. By doing this, you forfeit the right to the death benefit and will no longer have to pay your premiums. This is an alternative to borrowing against your policy, which would keep it in effect and require you to still pay premiums and pay interest on what you borrowed. Unlike the death benefit of a life insurance policy, which comes into effect when you pass away, the cash value is available to policyholders during their lifetimes.
In determining whether you can keep life insurance, the Medicaid agencies in both Missouri and Illinois are looking for whether that life insurance policy has cash surrender value. This means that if you call the insurance company and say, "I just want to cash this thing in, I don’t want to wait until I die," you would get money back. If it doesn’t have cash value, you can keep it. If it does, then there is a difference between the rules in Illinois and Missouri. In Illinois, if the face value of the policy is $1500 or less, or if you have three $500 ones, it’s the aggregate that’s $1500, you can still keep it. In Missouri, you can keep one policy up to that value or have a prepaid funeral.
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Eligibility criteria
Medicaid in Missouri is called MO HealthNet. It is jointly funded by the state and federal governments and administered by the state under federally set parameters. The Missouri Department of Social Services is the administering agency.
To qualify for Medicaid long-term care in Missouri, applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
Residency and Citizenship
The applicant must be a Missouri resident and either a U.S. citizen or have proper immigration status.
Age/Disability
The applicant must be 65 years or older, blind, or disabled.
Medical Requirements
Applicants must meet medical requirements consistent with the level of care needed and require care for at least 30 consecutive days.
Income Limitations
Single applicants must allocate their income, excluding a <$50 personal needs allowance, toward care costs. For persons who are blind, the income limit is $1,305 per month for a single applicant and $1,763 per month for a married couple. In 2025, a single Nursing Home Medicaid applicant must have assets under $5,909.25. Additionally, all available income, with a few exceptions, must go towards the nursing home.
Life Insurance
Medicaid agencies in Missouri will allow you to keep your life insurance policy if it does not have cash surrender value. If it does have cash value, you may keep one policy up to a value of $1,500 or have a prepaid funeral.
It is important to note that not meeting all of the criteria does not mean one is ineligible or cannot become eligible for Medicaid in Missouri. There are multiple pathways towards eligibility, and the criteria change annually and vary with marital status. The spend-down method can also be used to meet Medicaid eligibility by reducing countable income to below the state’s threshold.
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Long-term care
MO HealthNet offers long-term care services to eligible state residents who require nursing home-level care but do not want to live in a nursing home. The program provides home or community-based assistance, such as help with personal care activities like bathing and dressing, and respite care to give family caregivers a break. MO HealthNet also offers the Aged and Disabled Waiver (ADW) program, which provides in-home services to eligible individuals 63 and older who would otherwise require nursing home care.
To qualify for Medicaid long-term care in Missouri, applicants must meet specific criteria. Firstly, they must be Missouri residents and either US citizens or have proper immigration status. Secondly, they must be 65 or older, blind, or disabled and meet the medical requirements consistent with the level of care needed for at least 30 consecutive days. Finally, single applicants must allocate their income, excluding a $50 personal needs allowance, toward care costs.
Missouri divides assets into exempt and countable categories for Medicaid eligibility. Exempt assets do not count toward eligibility, while countable assets must be spent down. Key exempt assets include cash or other liquid assets up to $2,000 for single applicants ($4,000 for married couples), one home if the equity value is under $730,000 and the applicant or their spouse, a child under 21, or a disabled dependent resides there, one car with no equity limit, prepaid funeral plans up to $9,999, life insurance policies with a total face value of $1,500 or less per person, and personal property with an equity value under $5,000.
Missouri also offers the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program, which helps Nursing Home Medicaid beneficiaries transition back to the community by paying for moving expenses and long-term care in their new residence. Additionally, the state's Home and Community-Based Service (HCBS) Waivers provide long-term care services to financially limited seniors who require a Nursing Facility Level of Care but wish to remain in their community instead of moving to a nursing home.
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Income and asset limits
In Missouri, Medicaid is called MO HealthNet. Seniors can apply for MO HealthNet online at myDSS, over the phone, or by downloading and submitting a completed application. The MO HealthNet eligibility determination process can be started via HealthCare.gov, either online or by phone.
MO HealthNet has different income and asset limits for different types of applicants. For instance, a single Nursing Home Medicaid applicant in 2025 must meet the following criteria:
- All available income, with a few exceptions, must go to the nursing home
- Assets must be under $5,909.25
- They must require a Nursing Home Level of Care
Additionally, a non-applicant spouse can increase their Spousal Income Allowance if their housing and utility costs exceed a "shelter standard" of $767 per month. However, in 2025, a Spousal Income Allowance cannot push a non-applicant's total monthly income over $3,948. This is the Maximum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance.
For households with more than six members, add $128 to the maximum monthly income for each additional household member.
Money deposited into an irrevocable QIT does not count toward Medicaid's income limit. This means that a person's excess income over the Medicaid limit is directly deposited into a trust, with a trustee given legal control of the funds. The money can be used for specific purposes, such as long-term home and community-based services, medical expenses, and items not covered by MO HealthNet, like wheelchairs.
Persons who have countable assets over the MO HealthNet asset limit can "spend down" excess assets on non-countable ones and become asset-eligible.
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Health Insurance Premium Payment (HIPP) Program
The Health Insurance Premium Payment (HIPP) Program helps pay for the cost of health insurance premiums for certain MO HealthNet participants. MO HealthNet is Medicaid in Missouri. The HIPP Program pays for health insurance for MO HealthNet participants when it is cost-effective, meaning that it costs less to buy the health insurance to cover medical care than to pay for the same services with MO HealthNet funds.
The HIPP Program cannot find health insurance policies for MO HealthNet participants. Instead, it pays for policies already available to the participant. For example, if you or a member of your household is a MO HealthNet participant and have health insurance available from other sources (employer policies, personal policies, credit unions, church affiliations, labour unions, memberships in organisations, etc.), you can choose to apply to the HIPP Program.
To continue participation in the HIPP Program and receive payment for premiums, participants are required to submit documentation every month that shows proof that a premium has been paid. This can be done by providing a paycheck stub or statement showing the premium payment. This documentation must be received on a monthly basis, and failure to do so may result in non-payment of the HIPP premium or exclusion from the HIPP Program.
As a condition of MO HealthNet eligibility, persons who are not enrolled in an available group insurance plan that the division has determined is cost-effective, and who are otherwise eligible for MO HealthNet, shall apply for enrollment in the plan. The Department of Social Services, MO HealthNet Division, will pay all enrollee premiums and deductibles, coinsurance, and other cost-sharing obligations for items and services otherwise covered under the MO HealthNet program. When more than one health insurance plan or policy is available, the Department of Social Services, MO HealthNet Division, will pay only for the most cost-effective plan.
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Frequently asked questions
Medicaid in Missouri is called MO HealthNet.
The eligibility requirements for Medicaid in Missouri are based on income, assets, and medical necessity. Single applicants must allocate their income, excluding a $50 personal needs allowance, toward care costs.
Missouri Medicaid does not cover the cost of life insurance. However, it does provide long-term care support for seniors who cannot afford it, including nursing home care, assisted living services, and non-medical support services.
