As far as I know, an IRA is considered an asset. Assets must be spent down before people qualify for Medicaid, since Medicaid is meant for people who are without other means to pay. Generally, there's a 5 year look back time now, so any money that is in the person's name during the 5 years before signing on for Medicaid can be taken back to pay for care. Carol
I’m sure your question was about Medicaid, not Medicare and the answer depends on the state in which you live. It appears you are in California and the rule there is the same as in the other two largest retiree states: New York, and where I practice, Florida.
In these states, and others, the answer is that IRA principal is an exempt asset as long as the IRA is in distribution and the distribution is going towards “cost of care’ or “patient responsibility” if in a nursing home.
By law, an IRA owner must begin taking "Required Minimum Distributions" (RMD) by April 1 of the year after turning age 70 1/2. Chances are, then, that your loved one's IRA is already in distribution but perhaps not being distributed monthly which will be a requirement.
Although the Medicaid applicant may have been taking more than the required minimum prior to application it will make sense to reduce the distribution to the required minimum prior to applying since any residual remaining in the IRA at the demise of the Medicaid recipient is not required to be paid to the state but can, rather, be distributed to heirs.
Some states are not so generous with respect to the treatment of IRA’s and the solutions can be cumbersome and complicated so I will not address them here unless there is a request regarding a specific scenario in a specific state.
Now my father passed away in Nov. He had stocks that his father gave him. It got divided 3 ways. Now my step mother is in poor health. Cant take care of her. But need a nursing home. We had to cash out her portion of the stock to pay for dad's bills and burial. Now will that effect her in order to get into nursing home Or medicaid?
Mom was advised by an eldercare lawyer to spend down all monetary assets or they would go to her care if placed in a facility. I have been caring for her at home for 5 years and all of her LTC money has been used up for her care. Now we are taking from her annuity, which used to be an IRA. When that is gone, then she can go on medicaid and it will pay for her care in a facility. There is a 3-5 year look back period on all financial activity, so unless you are planning on keeping your loved one at home, the money will be used to pay for care.
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Carol
I’m sure your question was about Medicaid, not Medicare and the answer depends on the state in which you live. It appears you are in California and the rule there is the same as in the other two largest retiree states: New York, and where I practice, Florida.
In these states, and others, the answer is that IRA principal is an exempt asset as long as the IRA is in distribution and the distribution is going towards “cost of care’ or “patient responsibility” if in a nursing home.
By law, an IRA owner must begin taking "Required Minimum Distributions" (RMD) by April 1 of the year after turning age 70 1/2. Chances are, then, that your loved one's IRA is already in distribution but perhaps not being distributed monthly which will be a requirement.
Although the Medicaid applicant may have been taking more than the required minimum prior to application it will make sense to reduce the distribution to the required minimum prior to applying since any residual remaining in the IRA at the demise of the Medicaid recipient is not required to be paid to the state but can, rather, be distributed to heirs.
Some states are not so generous with respect to the treatment of IRA’s and the solutions can be cumbersome and complicated so I will not address them here unless there is a request regarding a specific scenario in a specific state.
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