Elder Law Q. How can a person qualify for Medicaid? A. Medicaid is a joint federal-state medical assistance program for eligible individuals. The Medicaid program contracts with and directly pays health care providers. The federal government reimburses the state slightly more than $.58 for each dollar spent on Medicaid health care services in Ohio. Even though the Medicaid program is a state-wide program, there can be a great deal of variation in interpretation of the regulations among the counties, and even to some extent among the Eligibility Specialists who process the applications and make the initial determination of eligibility. To qualify for Medicaid, an individual must be "aged" (65 years or older), legally blind, or disabled as defined by the Social Security Disability (SSD) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. Q. How is eligibility for Medicaid determined for married individuals? A. The rules for eligibility for Medicaid by married individuals provide for the institutionalized spouse and for the "community spouse." Sometimes a trust is involved which requires specialized concern. Occasionally, "spending down" of assets might be needed to meet eligibility requirements. Consultation with an experienced attorney is needed. Q. How is eligibility for Medicaid determined for unmarried individuals? A. An unmarried individual will not be eligible for Medicaid until his or her countable resources are a certain level in the month in which eligibility is first requested. Countable resources must remain below that level in subsequent months. Other rules also apply. Q. How is income determined? A. Funds are determined in the month received. Funds held over to the next calendar month become resources. Thus, an individual has the entire month to spend income received that month.