Looking for IRA Assets

The issue of whether or not an IRA asset is a countable asset is an interesting issue from a Maryland Medical Assistance perspective.   For individuals and their spouses, when an ill spouse goes into a nursing home and reviews the issue of applying for Medical Assistance for the ill spouse, the issue that routinely comes up is the issue of what is a countable asset towards the Medical Assistance threshold for the community spouse and ill spouse (i.e. how much can the ill spouse and community spouse own and still be eligible for Medical Assistance benefits).  From a Maryland perspective, and IRA account and other forms of retirement accounts are fully countable assets.  This is specifically addressed in the Maryland Medical Assistance Manual and all of the caseworkers are processing Medical Assistance applications counting IRA and other forms of retirement assets as countable assets.  The real question is whether or not Maryland is correct in treating the IRA and other forms of retirement assets as countable assets.  The answer is Maryland may well indeed be incorrect.  We are looking for the right client scenario to push this issue and clarify and correct this fundamental determination that IRA and other retirement assets should not be countable assets.