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Michelle318 Asked May 2020

Power of Attorney and Medicaid denial. Any suggestions?

My father in law is in desperate need of long term care. He can not walk. He can only stand for about 20 seconds. He applied for Medicaid but was denied. Last I heard he was bringing in about $1800 or $1900 a month. But they also said it was because of the account for his Dad. He is his father's POA so he is listed on his Dad's checking account. He is only on that account so he can write checks to make sure his Dad's bills get paid and paid on time. Can Medicaid still deny him because of that account? He desperately needs long term care. But we cannot afford to pay for it privately. Please help. I can provide additional info if needed. I'm sorry if none of this makes sense. But thanks for helping.

sjplegacy May 2020
I don't believe your husband's name needs to be on your FIL's checking acct. The companies he is writing checks for may ask for a copy of the POA. The bank also needs a copy. When that is done, your husband can merely sign each check as "his name POA for FIL's name". Having your husband's name on the acct may also make him liable for your FILs debts.
worriedinCali May 2020
The OPs husbands name isn’t on his dads account. This is post is about her father-in-law and HIS father (her husbands grandfather).
igloo572 May 2020
if he’s been denied, you need to file an appeal ASAP as these usually have a pretty narrow timeframe to get done. There should be a paragraph as to how to do an appeal in the denial letter. Filing fir appeal is filing for a hearing.... you shouldn’t have to submit paperwork just yet. It’s more about getting hearing time / date set.

So Terry is your FIL, and Terry is also DPOA for his father?
(so there's a greatFIL or whatever he would be called....), that’s it right? So they live to forever in your hubs family, lol.

I bet the bank acct greatFIL has is listed with Terry’s SS# attached to it, so Terry is considered an owner of the acct and NOT just a signatory on the acct. If it’s this, it pops up to be an “asset” of Terry’s.
Assets for LTC NH Medicaid by & large is maxed at 2k. If the bank acct, has $12,345.67, the Terry will need to spend down to get to 2K before Medicaid will approve. That’s how Medicaid ime sees the situation.

if it’s this, I’d suggest you speak with the bank ASAP to see the paperwork on the acct to find out exactly how it reads for ownership. If this was done ages ago, banks tended to do it as co-owned. Hopefully this is a community or local bank and not Bank of America or Chase.

Then you need to look whose $ went into the acct.
Like if there was any commingling of $ into it.... like Terry had his own pension, or interest from his own savings acct., deposited into the acct, it’s going to need to be unthreaded to segregate whose $ is whose.
But if grandFIL only had his and his only SS$ deposited, it’s purely grand FIL account, for years....you might be able to submit years of bank state mates to show it’s purely all grandFIL $.

Personally I don’t think these are DIY but need elder law atty who does Medicaid appeals. But it would be helpful to know what ownership is and what commingling is to take to the atty. so atty. can get the paperwork in for the appeal hearing or submit to caseworker.

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