Medicaid will not pay for long term care for anyone with more than $2,000.00 in assets. Is there a reason that you feel the taxpayers in this country should pay for her care when she has assets?
Sell her assets and use that money to pay for her care. Do not transfer any of her assets to you. Google Medicaid look back and MERP - Medicaid Estate Recovery.
Sorry, but her assets, yes all of them, are for her care.
Glad’s right. You can’t put one over on Medicaid and hide assets or gift her money to anyone else within their 5 year look-back period. My mom scrimped and saved her Social Security and any other income she had until she had amassed about $30,000. She was extremely proud of saving this money for years so she’d have something to leave me when she passed. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with dementia and because I care for my husband 24/7, I could not care for her as well. She had to go to a facility at $5,000 a month and was self-pay for 6 months until her money was gone. Poof. Then, we applied for Medicaid and she was approved, with $1500 of the $30,000 left. Medicaid is not a given for the elderly like Medicare is. You can’t just ask for it and be approved. It’s a long, confusing and frustrating process.
What assets are you talking about? My Mom had insurance money that helped her stay in an AL for a while. Then private pay for 2 months then gMedicaid. SS and any pension is used for Moms care and Medicaid picks up the rest. They also cover a supplimental, vision and dental.
It depends on the state you are in the maximum Medicaid allows you to have. In my state 2k or under. This means all assets need to be liquidated. Bonds, shares, IRAs, CDs, investments,insurance policies with cash in value, ect. Money can be used to prepay a funeral. Once all assets are used for LOs care, then you apply for Medicaid, about 90 days before money runs out. Like said, within the 5 yr look back, no money can be gifted, used by a POA for personal use, put into a trust and so on. Medicaid allows the person to keep a house and a car. Problem is, none of their money can be used to pay taxes, utilities or upkeep. And there r strick rules about someone living in it other than a spouse. When all is said and done, the person dies broke. There is no money to inherit. If there is a house still in the picture, Medicaid will put a lean on it which will need to be satisfied at time of sale.
How they qualify is easy...... They spend down their nonexempt assets till “at need” financially & show to be “at need” medically for LTC in a skilled nursing facility/ NH.
Medically “at need” will likely require a very detailed assesment done on her if she’s living independently- the NH will have suggestions as to how this is done. Unless she is hospitalized and is discharged / transfers to “rehab” in a NH and is then found after rehab has plateaued to be needing to stay there. Most NH admits are via the post hospitalization scenario.
Financially “at need” = impoverished with a max of 2k in nonexempt assets & under thier states monthly income limit (varies but around $2,100 mo). The spend down must be for themselves, their care. Anything tied to their name and SS# can be included in the asset review. Any gifting will place a transfer penalty on her application.
If they are at the point of needing a facility; and they or you are thinking that assets might be able to be shifted around and excluded from the look back done by Medicaid, that ship has sailed. And sailed off years ago. Stuff would have had to been transferred before the Summer of 2013 not to be counted. 5 year lookback = Summer of 2013.
If its just savings, they private pay for care. Thier bank statements over time show a regular sensible decrease to get to 2k. Personally if this is the situation I think a organized dpoa can do a widow or widower parent LTC Medicaid application in tandem with the NH they have moved into.
If they have cash value life insurance or annuities or other investments, home, land, to me those are not DIYs as stuff will need to get sold, called in, do a settlement, etc. stuff that’s more complex. I’d really suggest she take some of her $ and get a NAELA or CELA level of elder law firm to get these done within Medicaid compliance & then they shepherd her Medicaid application.
If she has a house & car, those are considered exempt assets. But she will have no $ to pay a penny on upkeep once she applies for Medicaid as Medicaid requires a copay of almost all her monthly income to be paid to the NH as her SOC / share of cost. Unless they or you really really want the place & keeping it makes sense for your families unique situation; it’s probably best to sell it and fold the house sale $ into her spend down as private pay often gives her better options as to where she moves into. Often a NH will have just a few Medicaid beds and these are filled exclusively from a waiting list of current residents of long standing who have finally run out of $. In my city, the better NH never ever fill a Medicaid bed from someone who walks in off the street so to speak.
Applying for medicaid is done by choice, so basically gives the state an all access pass to your parents finances and health history.
Sell her assets and use that money to pay for her care. Do not transfer any of her assets to you. Google Medicaid look back and MERP - Medicaid Estate Recovery.
Sorry, but her assets, yes all of them, are for her care.
It depends on the state you are in the maximum Medicaid allows you to have. In my state 2k or under. This means all assets need to be liquidated. Bonds, shares, IRAs, CDs, investments,insurance policies with cash in value, ect. Money can be used to prepay a funeral. Once all assets are used for LOs care, then you apply for Medicaid, about 90 days before money runs out. Like said, within the 5 yr look back, no money can be gifted, used by a POA for personal use, put into a trust and so on. Medicaid allows the person to keep a house and a car. Problem is, none of their money can be used to pay taxes, utilities or upkeep. And there r strick rules about someone living in it other than a spouse. When all is said and done, the person dies broke. There is no money to inherit. If there is a house still in the picture, Medicaid will put a lean on it which will need to be satisfied at time of sale.
Medically “at need” will likely require a very detailed assesment done on her if she’s living independently- the NH will have suggestions as to how this is done. Unless she is hospitalized and is discharged / transfers to “rehab” in a NH and is then found after rehab has plateaued to be needing to stay there. Most NH admits are via the post hospitalization scenario.
Financially “at need” = impoverished with a max of 2k in nonexempt assets & under thier states monthly income limit (varies but around $2,100 mo). The spend down must be for themselves, their care. Anything tied to their name and SS# can be included in the asset review. Any gifting will place a transfer penalty on her application.
If they are at the point of needing a facility; and they or you are thinking that assets might be able to be shifted around and excluded from the look back done by Medicaid, that ship has sailed. And sailed off years ago. Stuff would have had to been transferred before the Summer of 2013 not to be counted. 5 year lookback = Summer of 2013.
If its just savings, they private pay for care. Thier bank statements over time show a regular sensible decrease to get to 2k. Personally if this is the situation I think a organized dpoa can do a widow or widower parent LTC Medicaid application in tandem with the NH they have moved into.
If they have cash value life insurance or annuities or other investments, home, land, to me those are not DIYs as stuff will need to get sold, called in, do a settlement, etc. stuff that’s more complex. I’d really suggest she take some of her $ and get a NAELA or CELA level of elder law firm to get these done within Medicaid compliance & then they shepherd her Medicaid application.
If she has a house & car, those are considered exempt assets. But she will have no $ to pay a penny on upkeep once she applies for Medicaid as Medicaid requires a copay of almost all her monthly income to be paid to the NH as her SOC / share of cost. Unless they or you really really want the place & keeping it makes sense for your families unique situation; it’s probably best to sell it and fold the house sale $ into her spend down as private pay often gives her better options as to where she moves into. Often a NH will have just a few Medicaid beds and these are filled exclusively from a waiting list of current residents of long standing who have finally run out of $. In my city, the better NH never ever fill a Medicaid bed from someone who walks in off the street so to speak.
Applying for medicaid is done by choice, so basically gives the state an all access pass to your parents finances and health history.