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Just applied for A & A for mom. Looks like she will get it as she meets the qualifications. However her house is not considered part of her assets. She is now living in a nursing home and will not be going back home. What do we do with her house? It will just be sitting empty. Can’t sell it as the cash would then affect her asset limitation. I was wondering if we could rent it?

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Thank you all for your thoughts...I am going to sell her house in the next couple of months. She will lose her VA benefit, but maybe she can get back if she spends down the house proceeds - which will go to her care in AL. Hopefully, she can pay for two more years in AL. And yes, eventually she will end up on Medicaid should she live longer. Her AL is $4,400/month and is fairly reasonable for all that she gets. So hoping to keep her here as long as possible.
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Kashi,

I would just spend down the 60k. You are going to need to put her on Medicaid eventually anyway. A&A is not going to stretch her that far. It cost approx 10k or more for Longterm care. 1200 is approx. She may not get that. It would take 8 months of A&A to make 10k. In that time that 60k would be gone in 6.

My Mom had about 20k left when I applied for Medicaid. I applied in April, she was placed May1st and paid May and June privately. In June I confirmed she was spent down and Medicaid had all info needed and Medicaid started July 1st. My state allows 90 days once u apply to spend down, get them info needed and place the recipient.

You will have an easier time getting her in a NH if ur private pay and then apply for Medicaid. I thought my Mom would get A&A too. She brought in 20k a year with SS and a small pension. Had maybe 50k going toward her stay in an AL. So that meant each month that total came down 5k. Her house was not worth 100k. Thats all she had to her name and she was turned down. Since I had already started the Medicaid application, I did not appeal. As said, you can't have both.

If you sell Moms house why she is private paying, the proceeds need to go to her care. It also has to be sold at Market Value if Medicaid is in the future. If its sold while on Medicaid, Medicaid stops and you spend down the proceeds and reapply to Medicaid.
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Medicaid will place a lien on the house to cover as much of her expenses as possible. Hanging onto the house is a major expense. Sell it, use the proceeds to pay for her care, Medicaid will lien the home anyway.
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Kashi, the problem you face with keeping the house is the money it costs to maintain it. Insurance needs to be switched to a vacant property policy and they are expensive, like 3-4k. Property taxes need to be paid and utilities need to be kept on to stop deterioration of the home and yard. Mom won't be able to pay these on Medicaid. She might have trouble on AA, I don't know.

You should speak with Medicaid and the VA to find out what they recommend.

Your mom would be better served by selling the house and self paying until she reaches the 129k mark for AA, bring them back on board and now you are stretching double the funds.
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Is she on Medicaid in the NH? If so, she will not receive Aid and Attendence. They are both government programs and Medicaid pays more. A&A will give her $90 towards her personal needs account. But if on Medicaid her PNA is included in her income cap which in my state is 2k. You have to keep under that cap.

If she is paying privately she will get about 1200 a month if a widow of a Vet.

The home depends on if she is on Medicaid or not. If on Medicaid, it won't matter because she won't get it. If private paying, the rent could be considered income.

You should talk about this with a VA rep.
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Kashi60 Sep 2021
No she is not on Medicaid yet. When she spends her funds down (which is only $60,000) she will apply. Meanwhile If she is approved for the $1,200 in A&A it will help stretch this money out a bit longer. Her only assets are the $60,000 cash in her bank and the house (that's is empty) and it's worth only about $150,000 if that. Aid and Attendance's net worth limit is $129,094 (2020). So if we sold it ..would put her over. Currently they don't consider the house as part of her assets and don't think Medicaid does either. Again when she applies for Medicaid.can't sell it then as it would add to her assets and you can't have more than $2,000 (in TN). So seems like we can't do anything with the house at this point

Am I thinking correctly about this...

Thank you!!!!!
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renting would increase her assets and could affect her aid and attendance.
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Kashi60 Sep 2021
You are correct, if we sell it it would put her over. Just not sure how Medicaid treats a home. Do we have to sell it before she goes on Medicaid...
Or does Medicaid even consider her home as part of her assets.
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