HomeAnswersDoes Medicaid pay for funeral expenses?
Does Medicaid pay for funeral expenses?
Medicaid is health coverage that each state runs under federal rules, and some states pay a limited, capped amount toward a funeral or burial for people who were on Medicaid, SSI or other public assistance. Illinois lists maximums of $1,370 for a funeral and $686 for a cremation or burial, Pennsylvania's maximum payment is $750, Wisconsin offers funeral providers up to $1,500 for unmet funeral expenses, and Indiana's program covers people in specific Medicaid categories.
Medicaid rules matter more for money set aside before death. For older and disabled applicants, federal Medicaid rules generally apply the financial methods of the closest cash assistance program, which can be SSI, and SSA says you and your spouse can generally each set aside up to $1,500 for burial expenses that in most cases will not count as an SSI resource. Under SSA's rules, a burial contract that cannot be revoked or sold without significant hardship is not a resource, although its burial fund portion reduces that $1,500 exclusion, and a burial space held for the person or their immediate family is excluded regardless of value. State law decides whether a contract is revocable. New York, for example, does not count an irrevocable pre-need funeral agreement as an available resource for Medicaid, and any money left after the funeral goes to the local social services department.
To find out what applies, ask the state or county social services or human services office that handles Medicaid where the person lived. Pennsylvania takes burial payment requests at the local county assistance office, and Indiana notes that township trustees may offer additional help to qualified low-income residents. Each program sets its own eligibility rules and payment limits.
The sources behind this answer
- Medicaid.gov describes Medicaid as a program that provides health coverage and is administered by states according to federal requirements. Medicaid.gov (CMS)
- The federal Medicaid regulation on financial eligibility (42 CFR 435.601) defines cash assistance financial methods to include SSI methods, with separate methods for aged, blind and disabled people in states that use more restrictive criteria than SSI, and tells the state agency to apply the methods of the cash assistance program most closely related to the person's status for people outside the MAGI rules. 42 CFR 435.601 (eCFR)
- SSA's SSI Spotlight on Burial Funds (2026 Edition) says that generally a person and their spouse can each set aside up to $1,500 for burial expenses, and in most cases that money will not count as an SSI resource. SSA SSI Spotlight on Burial Funds
- Under SSA POMS SI 01130.420, a burial contract that cannot be revoked and cannot be sold without significant hardship is not a resource for SSI, but the part of it that represents burial funds reduces the $1,500 burial funds exclusion, while the part that buys burial spaces does not. SSA POMS SI 01130.420
- SSA POMS SI 01130.420 says state law determines whether a prepaid burial contract is revocable, and some contracts may be partly revocable. SSA POMS SI 01130.420
- Under SSA POMS SI 01130.400, a burial space, or an agreement representing the purchase of one, held for the individual, their spouse or other immediate family is an excluded resource regardless of value. SSA POMS SI 01130.400
- New York's Department of Health told local social services districts in a 2011 directive that, for Medicaid eligibility, the value of an irrevocable pre-need funeral agreement is not an available resource, and money left over after funeral and burial expenses goes to the local social services department for indigent burials. This is New York's rule only. NY DOH 11 OHIP/ADM-4
- The Illinois Department of Human Services Funeral and Burial Benefits page lists the maximum it will pay as $1,370.00 for a funeral and $686.00 for a cremation/burial, for people receiving or eligible for certain listed assistance programs at death. The page does not print a date for these amounts. Illinois DHS Funeral & Burial Benefits
- Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services says its burial payment is figured from countable resources and contributions, and the maximum payment is $750 if the total value of countable resources is $1,500 or more. Pennsylvania DHS burial payment page
- Pennsylvania DHS says requests for burial payments are made at the local CAO (county assistance office), orally or in writing. Pennsylvania DHS burial payment page
- Wisconsin's Department of Health Services says its Funeral and Cemetery Aids Program pays service providers directly, up to $1,500 for unmet funeral expenses and up to $1,000 for unmet cemetery and crematory expenses, for some decedents enrolled in listed programs that include Medicaid and SSI. Wisconsin DHS WFCAP
- Indiana's Family and Social Services Administration says the state's Burial Assistance Program helps with burial costs for people eligible in specific categories of Medicaid, and township trustees may offer additional help to qualified low-income or indigent residents. Indiana FSSA DFR Burial Assistance Program
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