I am concerned that because I have a pension of $1650.00 and SS of $1400.00. Will I never qualify?

When a disabled child becomes 18 he is emancipated. Parents then have to get guardianship. In my nephew's case his disability is physical not mental. He chose to make me his POA. He had insurance money that kept him from being able to get SSD. I was able to set this money with a Special Needs Trust that I am Trustee of. This has to be OKd by a Judge. Once that was done, we were able to get SSD. His trust cannot be counted as income.

Dustien: When the elder applies for Medicaid, they are allowed $2K or under in countable assets. That's how they "don't just lie down and die." They apply for Medicaid.

@ Tired you definitely need to find the facts of your situation. Just because you never separated your money it must be possible to show who has how much for income. In a NH situation it is Mom's income that counts towards paying for the NH
I doubt they can touch yours. With an income that high you should be able to support yourself fairly well. But as quoted above you do need legal advice. you will almost certainly be above the limits for Medicaid. if you personally need NH your income will be taken to pay towards your NH costs and you will be only allowed a small allowance. I understand they are clamping down on trusts to make it impossible to keep your money away from Medicaid unless you can do something more than 5 years before you need Medicare.

Know that if you (or your loved one) needs any medication, unless you have insurance for it (not likely) will be paid by you.

I don't understand how they can be ineligible for Medicaid aid when they make, say, 2800.00, when any NH costs double that. So what would happen if there's no more money then if they need round the clock nursing care? They just lay down somewhere and die?

You are wise to begin planning now. You're managing for three generations, and an elder law attorney can help you keep apples with apples and oranges with oranges.

Your question about income and Medicaid eligibility requires more information. Nursing home residents can keep only a small amount of their income if Medicaid is paying the bill.

Establishing a Third Party Special Needs Trust for your child now provides a way for you to fund an inheritance for him that will not disrupt his income eligibility in the future.

An elder law attorney can also explain how establishing a (d)(4)(A) Trust for your child now will give him a place to deposit assets of his own, if that becomes necessary in the future.

Laura, I agree with MommaMandy wholeheartedly. It was worth every cent to hire an elder-care attorney to help in qualifying dad for Medicaid. Medicaid laws can vary by state and change continuously. For Ohio as of this moment, the max income is $2199 and anything over that has to be deposited into a Qualified Income, or Miller's Trust and must be in each bank a certain amount of time. It gets so complicated with all the requirements. Trying to qualify is not something you want to have to do twice. Most elder-care attorneys offer free consults. Get one or two to see which one fits you best.

In most states (but not all) Medicaid allows you to keep $2K or under of countable assets.

I had never heard of a Miller trust, will check that out! Yes, your child over the age of 18 should be receiving SSI on their own NOW. Look into that. Special needs trust is recommended, and their is a type of guardianship that is not as restricting as that, I can't think of the name of it. Good thing your mother's situation prompted you to write and and to start acting, time flies!

Laura - really Jeannie Gibbs summarized it perfectly…..plan & do with legal advice.

What you are likely to hear are things related to a special needs trust for your son. I have a cousin who got polio in 1950's & his parents did a SNT. As they aged, I and his brother became trustees and how succession was to be done was in the trust (luckily), although my cousin totally self-directs his SNT as his limitations are physical not cognitive. It's about to do it planned defunding. If done correctly SNT are great as it can be freestanding asset & not affect their ability to get Medicaid should the need arise. There have been some changes fairly recently as to how much $ can go each year into a childhood based disability SNT and get it tax free for new state-pooled trusts…..my point in mentioned this is that trusts, well its complex & not a DIY, so you need to find an atty who can deal with issues for your son as well as you. It will be $ well spent. imho It's probably going to be an estate law atty rather than elder law one.

SS maximum is $ 2,640 a mo. For many many baby boomers, they are going to totally qualify for maximum. From just their SS alone, they are over the Medicaid limit not even counting pension, investments, other assets. Aging in the US is not going to be pretty. Really planning is even more important for boomers than for our parents.

Hi LauraNieda
I echo others suggestion to see a qualified elder attorney. The fact that your adult child is disabled suggests to me that he is possibly already on Medicaid. I've heard others in a similar situation say that should he inherit from you or anyone else, it could disrupt his ability to continue to receive funds from Medicare.

A little knowledge can be dangerous! A Miller's Trust is not available in all states. It's complicated; get an Elder Care Atty. The cost is well worth it.

To help find an Elder Law Attorney, scroll down to the bottom of the place to the blue section, on your left you will see ELDER LAW ATTORNEYS. Click on that, and within the articles there will be a search mode where you type in your zip code.

I found my Elder Law Attorney that way, and she has been outstanding. Elder Law Attorneys are able to work through the maze of Medicaid, if needed. Know how to set up Trusts... and even do Wills and Power of Attorneys.

I am in the same boat as you. I am currently trying to find a senior lawyer who can help me. Mom who is 96 was just admitted to a rehab nursing facility. She has been uncooperative and caused a terrible disturbance yesterday. They told me they may have to Baker Act her and confine her to a full time nursing facility. This takes any rights Mom might have, away from her. I will have no say in the matter. Her insurance will pay for the first twenty days in rehab, but that's it. From there on it's a $150 a day co-pay. I will end up homeless, if I can't find some loophole in the law. I never separated her finances from mine, and theres not that much.

Whatever age your child is, contact Social Security as he should be receiving disability from them. I don't know your age, but when you die, your child will receive your social security benefit and your pension needs to make him the beneficiary. What does your mother's situation have to do with you? Keep yourself healthy and maybe you will not have to go anywhere but at home with your son. More seniors stay in their homes than go to nursing homes. Also, make sure you have someone who is appointed to care for your disabled son should you die.

You go on o an attorney and set up a Miller trust. Everything dollar above the Medicaid max is placed into that trust. So, you income gets below the limit.

At the end...Medicaid get the distribution from that trust.

That is how it is done.

Each state administers the federal Medicaid program, so things may vary by state. My mom qualifies, but because her gross monthly income is about 3k, she has a large copay to the home health care agency, like about $1200 a month. She had already put her house in some kind of a trust back in 2002, so they can't touch that.

Laura, please see an attorney who knows how to set up trust accounts for disabled adult children. You can start saving for that trust. As far as current income goes, if/when you go on Medicaid (if it still exists when you get there as Jeannegibbs said) you'll at least have a start. Likely your income would go toward your care, though. An attorney can sort it out best. Good luck. Your adult disabled child needs some backup so I hope that something can get started.
Carol

Laura, by the time you might need Medicaid who knows if it will even exist, or what the requirements will be? But all any of us can do is plan based on the current situation.

It would be very worth the cost to consult an attorney specializing in Elder Law. The lawyer can help you determine the best way to provide for your child.

See an attorney. My sister lives in a group home and any inheritance she would get, the state would take away. Work around that.
Also ask about a special needs Trust for yourself, one that is Medicaid compliant.