Wilma - you are what is called the "Community Spouse" and as such what you can keep are very different than that for a individual who goes into NH. For couples DAY 1 of his NH stay is the critical financial day and is often called the "snapshot" day" and this day is when your financials are set. Often for couples, they will delay the admission into the NH to get more $ moved out so their snapshot day total $ is as low as feasible.
For couples, you would be a "community spouse" as such the asset ceiling is higher and is limited to ½ of couple's joint assets.This “spousal protected resource allowance” is equal to one-half of the countable resources but not more than $109,560 in 2011. I think it’s this amount for all states.
All assets are counted against these limits unless the assets fall within the short list of "noncountable" assets: -personal possessions, -1 vehicle (regardless of value), - their principal residence, provided it is in the same state in which the individual is applying for coverage & the house may be kept with no equity limit if the Medicaid applicant's "community spouse" lives there; -prepaid funeral plans and a small amount of life insurance. Over that they must “spend down”.
“Spend down” – means get assets (excluding “non-countables”) under the state’s Medicaid asset ceiling. If you have a home, prepay for utilities, cable, insurance, repairs. If you are planning on staying at the home, spending down by doing repairs or paying off the mortgage, is often a super good plan. But often these things take time - like clearing a mortgage can take weeks to do and clear the $ out of your bank account - so you do have to plan ahead.
For spouse's there's other issues, like how to deal with income if you still works or if you never worked and you only income is his SS &/or retirement and you need to get a MMMNA - minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance. (Say that 3 times fast!) These are all sticky, you'll likely need someone to work with you in figuring that out like an elder care attorney. The MMMNA is based on your state's AVERAGE and seem to be on the low side in all states and often the community spouse will have to do an appeal to the state for more MMMNA or get a court order for spousal support to get more monthly support. Having a monthly mortgage payment is going to make things very tight financially, you probably will need an elder care attorney to deal with this so that you get the best situation.Good luck.
For couples, you would be a "community spouse" as such the asset ceiling is higher and is limited to ½ of couple's joint assets.This “spousal protected resource allowance” is equal to one-half of the countable resources but not more than $109,560 in 2011. I think it’s this amount for all states.
All assets are counted against these limits unless the assets fall within the short list of "noncountable" assets:
-personal possessions,
-1 vehicle (regardless of value),
- their principal residence, provided it is in the same state in which the individual is applying for coverage & the house may be kept with no equity limit if the Medicaid applicant's "community spouse" lives there;
-prepaid funeral plans and a small amount of life insurance.
Over that they must “spend down”.
“Spend down” – means get assets (excluding “non-countables”) under the state’s Medicaid asset ceiling. If you have a home, prepay for utilities, cable, insurance, repairs. If you are planning on staying at the home, spending down by doing repairs or paying off the mortgage, is often a super good plan. But often these things take time - like clearing a mortgage can take weeks to do and clear the $ out of your bank account - so you do have to plan ahead.
For spouse's there's other issues, like how to deal with income if you still works or if you never worked and you only income is his SS &/or retirement and you need to get a MMMNA - minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance. (Say that 3 times fast!) These are all sticky, you'll likely need someone to work with you in figuring that out like an elder care attorney. The MMMNA is based on your state's AVERAGE and seem to be on the low side in all states and often the community spouse will have to do an appeal to the state for more MMMNA or get a court order for spousal support to get more monthly support. Having a monthly mortgage payment is going to make things very tight financially, you probably will need an elder care attorney to deal with this so that you get the best situation.Good luck.