cmeshell, your Dad should be reimbursing you for anything that you had to pay for that Dad needed. My parents always kept a running tab and would pay me. Then they gave me one of their credit cards to use which make it so much easier. I was my parents financial Power of Attorney so that helped big time.
If your Dad should need Medicaid down the road, any gifts and contributions to others would raise a red flag. What Medicaid would do is subtract the total amounts of the gifts/contributions and your Dad would need to continue to be self-pay at Assisted Living until he reaches the Medicaid approved amount.
One thing to note, very few Assisted Living facilities will take Medicaid. You will need to verify where your Dad is currently living, does the facility take Medicaid. Or is Dad living in a skilled nursing home? If yes, then nursing homes do take medicaid, if they haven't reached their limit of medicaid residents.
Thank you for the comments. I have contacted a CPA concerning what is allowable for a tax deduction. My concern is more related to incidental spending that I do for Dad. At this point, I still purchase personal items and special food items he wants. I have paid for a lot of it myself, but it gets costly. He still wants to give gifts and contributions to others and I am not sure how that would be viewed by Medicaid when they do the look back. In essence, I don't want it to look like we were trying to spend his money on unnecessary items and that keep them from allowing him to go to Medicaid pay. However, I don't want to pay for everything for him as long as he still has funds because if he never needs the Medicaid, my sibling will want her part of whatever is left and I am depleting my own funds that could go toward my own retirement. She lives in another state and does not contribute at all in any way. I have never seen any information by anyone who has had to go though the Medicaid application process to know what they consider.
You need to check with a CPA. Normally it’s only a percentage of it Ours does dad's taxes and she can do it take a percentage of the monthly fee. However, long term care or NH care is tax deductible.
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Here is a good article about spending down with Medicaid: https://www.agingcare.com/articles/Spending-Down-to-Medicaid-133289.htm and regarding applying for Medicaid: https://www.agingcare.com/articles/applying-for-medicaid-155854.htm
If your Dad should need Medicaid down the road, any gifts and contributions to others would raise a red flag. What Medicaid would do is subtract the total amounts of the gifts/contributions and your Dad would need to continue to be self-pay at Assisted Living until he reaches the Medicaid approved amount.
One thing to note, very few Assisted Living facilities will take Medicaid. You will need to verify where your Dad is currently living, does the facility take Medicaid. Or is Dad living in a skilled nursing home? If yes, then nursing homes do take medicaid, if they haven't reached their limit of medicaid residents.
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