Medicare has no interest in whether she has a mobile home, sells it, gives it away, or abandons it. Medicare is not interested in our assets.
Medicaid, on the other hand, is a needs-based program and as such they expect applicants/recipients to use their own money to pay for their own needs as long as they can. Has Mother applied to Medicaid, or does she intend to? Medicaid will consider signing over this asset to you to be a gift, and that is frowned upon. In fact, there is a penalty for it.
Mother may be better off consulting an elder law attorney on how best to prepare for applying for Medicaid, if that is what she in planning to do. It's complicated!
Medicaid is going to know about any assets she has. If they don't find out during the application process, they will find out later. Changing the name on a deed is a matter of public record. It cannot be hidden.
"Real" property sale or transfer is recorded by the state via the local taxing authority - usually it's the county tax assessor and chancery clerks departments. All this info is easily just keystrokes in being found by your state dept or health or human services when doing a Medicaid application review. They will know eventually about her money and assets.
Now it might not be done in the initial Medicaid pending review - which is usually within 90 days - but will surface eventually after they are admitted into a NH. Then what can happen is that she and whomever signed her into the NH will get a letter from Medicaid that there appears to be transfer penalty for the amount of the sale or the gift. The NH gets the letter also and usually will require that you private pay in full for the amount of the transfer penalty. This is a total panic situation to find yourself in. Now you can appeal the transfer penalty but appealing a transfer or gifting of a car, boat, house or other real property is kinda imho a lost cause because the value of those type of items are easily documented to the penny and there's no grey area for an attorney to work. Transfer penalty vary by state as it's based on whatever your state Medicaid NH reimbursement day rate it. For Texas it's about $ 145 a day - and TX has a low rate. So a 10K value car is about 70 days of private pay you may be asked to come with in for mom to stay at a NH.
When they apply for Medicaid, they sign off for an all access pass to their finances for the past 5 years. So that means summer of 2007 if she applies now. The only thing I've heard of that can be under the radar for Medicaid review is oil and gas revenues.
Medicaid, on the other hand, is a needs-based program and as such they expect applicants/recipients to use their own money to pay for their own needs as long as they can. Has Mother applied to Medicaid, or does she intend to? Medicaid will consider signing over this asset to you to be a gift, and that is frowned upon. In fact, there is a penalty for it.
Mother may be better off consulting an elder law attorney on how best to prepare for applying for Medicaid, if that is what she in planning to do. It's complicated!
Seeing an elder law attorney is the best course.
Is your mother on Medicaid, or planning to apply?
Now it might not be done in the initial Medicaid pending review - which is usually within 90 days - but will surface eventually after they are admitted into a NH. Then what can happen is that she and whomever signed her into the NH will get a letter from Medicaid that there appears to be transfer penalty for the amount of the sale or the gift. The NH gets the letter also and usually will require that you private pay in full for the amount of the transfer penalty. This is a total panic situation to find yourself in. Now you can appeal the transfer penalty but appealing a transfer or gifting of a car, boat, house or other real property is kinda imho a lost cause because the value of those type of items are easily documented to the penny and there's no grey area for an attorney to work. Transfer penalty vary by state as it's based on whatever your state Medicaid NH reimbursement day rate it. For Texas it's about $ 145 a day - and TX has a low rate. So a 10K value car is about 70 days of private pay you may be asked to come with in for mom to stay at a NH.
When they apply for Medicaid, they sign off for an all access pass to their finances for the past 5 years. So that means summer of 2007 if she applies now. The only thing I've heard of that can be under the radar for Medicaid review is oil and gas revenues.