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sometimer Asked March 2017

Is business income of a spouse considered an asset when applying for Medicaid?

I run my own business, which has been somewhat able to build a healthy savings account for future possible downturns. By healthy, I mean under 100K, only enough to cover emergencies lasting several months.
My husband, who is NOT am employee or partner in any way and has dementia, has been a signor on the account from the beginning, only in case of something happening to me. He, of course, does not remember that.
When goes into a NH of AL and Medicaid is applied for (we both live on less than 2K a month SS and occasional infusions of business income), will my business savings count toward an asset of his? If it does, I would have to close my business as it needs this $$ for operating costs.

igloo572 Mar 2017
Medicaid planning for couples is way way WAY more complex than for an individual, you'd be considered a "community spouse" plus you also have a business. I'd suggest you look for NAELA elder law atty and BeFORE ever applying. For couples, Medicaid does a fixed or "snapshot" day at which all income & assets are based from. So if $ need to shift, or designated beneficiaries changed, it needs to be done & cleared ahead of the snapshot.

It's the details that are going to be sticky in all this..... Your income is not a countable asset to get hubs eligible for Medicaid but if that income becomes savings that is viewed as community property it then becomes an asset which has to be less than whatever are the Medicaid limits for assets (which is around 119k for a CS in most states). It could be suggested that if you are a healthy & somewhat still youngCS & so could continue to run your biz for years & years more, that you take a big chunk of that savings now & before hubs medicaid application & convert it into a income source for you. Like take 75k and you do a SPIA (single premium immediate annuity) which gives you income but still have an emergency fund that is under the CS asset limit (even if you add to it in the future). Personally I hate annuities as they tend to be sold under terms not to the elders advantage with high commission structure, but a medicaid compliant SPIA for a CS is a very unique use of an annuity to provide extra income to the CS without jeapordizing hubs medicaid. It's not a DIY and something to speak with your atty about.

? For you, the biz, does it have its own federal ID?
Or horrors! are you running it via your SS#?
And the savings account, is it tied into your biz fed iD #? So any interest is reported in your business IRS filing? Or is it tied to your SS#?
? And since you own your biz (so your 100% IRS K-1), when you do your biz taxes has the K-1 been going into your joint personal taxes? If so, biz might need to be restructured.
None of this is a DIY on a good day much less if your dealing with caregiving a spouse plus your own biz..... Really you need to speak with an atty to figure out what's what fir your situation.

freqflyer Mar 2017
Your best bet is to talk to an Elder Law Attorney as they specialize in Medicaid rulings for your State.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the blue section. Click on ELDER LAW ATTORNEYS, scroll down to where you need to type in your zip code. This will give you a list of Elder Law Attorneys in your area. Or you can call your State Bar Association and ask for a list.

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