Can we charge Mom to clean out her house and sell it without "look back" violation?

ahhhh... I see.
Thank you. I have learned so much here. I appreciate all of you for helping me through this.

"Look Back" means they look back five years to see where all the money went. If gramma's house was sold or given away, Medicaid will assess a penalty. So if the house is worth $50,000, they expect that money to pay for her care. If gramma sells it to family for $1, the penalty would be $49,999. That means Medicaid will not pay the first $49,999 in nursing home bills.

what is a "lookback" period?

Go to dhs.wisconsin.gov/aging/EBS/counties.htm before you do anything, including sell the house. Forward Care in Wisconsin is a state run program that helps seniors stay in their homes. Medicaid looks back 5 years from the date of application, and they will not look kindly on paying the family anything.

Mom can spend money on her own needs during the lookback period. It certainly sounds like getting her house ready to sell was something she needed done. Draw up an agreement about what you did and what she is paying you. This is to make it clear the money was not just a gift to a child but a payment for services.