How will this affect Medicaid eligibility?

Your profile states that you're caring for your mother. Has she and/or your father granted a DPOA to either of you? Are you also a joint signatory on their account(s)? Have either of them been diagnosed with dementia, and/or is there any particular reason why they added him as a signatory to their account?

What are their assets, and would they be qualified for Medicaid now if they applied?

How did you become aware he's using their funds for himself, and do your parents know? What's their response?

Much more information is needed in order to answer your question.

they must have added him - it can be reversed - have him save the receipts.

If they didn't intend to add him then I would defnitily try to get him off ASAP. If that becomes difficult, just open another account for them and have all their funds transfered.

Medicaid will go back approximately 5 years of activity - bank, taxes, etc. They will flag any questionable activity and may put the application on hold for further investigation or may deny the application and you will have to appeal with no guarantee of approval. I would get him off the account pronto - my mother had a completely clean financial background and it still took me 15 months and a lot of headache to get her approved. Good luck with everything - I hope it all works out!

Your profile says that you are caring for your mother at home---does that mean at her home or at your home? Is your mother aware that your brother's name is on the bank account? Are you able to go to the bank & find out how your brother got his name on the account? Banks are extremely careful these days, & I doubt that they'd add his name willy nilly without one of your parent's in attendance to personally witness & sign bank documents legally adding him onto the account.

How did you find out that he got his name added onto the account? Did you see a statement? What is your relationship with your brother?

If your parents are not aware that your brother got his name on the bank accounts, then it is quite simple: Confront him with all the bank statements, demand that he tell you what he used the money for & tell him that if he doesn't return the money that you will file criminal charges against him for larceny, either petit larceny or grand larceny, depending on what the limits are in your state.

What I would do immediately is go with your parents & close the account. Take the check from the bank, go to a totally different bank & open up a new account.

Other facts about your situation would be helpful: Does anyone have DPOA? Are either one of your parents capable/competent to make their own decisions?

As far as Medicaid eligibility, I am assuming that you mean to go into a long term care facility. If your parents have any assets whatsoever, the facility is going to take them---house, money, cars, etc., and there is a 60 month look-back period. Whatever money your brother took will have to be returned by him, if it is a large enough sum to make a difference. You can't dump assets in order to qualify for Medicaid.

If a person who is added to a bank account withdraws money from that account for their own benefit, it is considered a gift to them at the time they make the transfer to themselves. If it was not authorized by your parents, then it is an illegal transfer, and your parents should immediately take his name off the account.
If the transfer was with your parents' approval, it is a gift and will cause a Medicaid penalty period should either of them apply within 5 years.

Ny parents just added me to their checking acct to assist with writing bills when the time is needed. Dad is 99 and does his own bank balances and pays his bills. Mom is 85. Does having my name on their acct deter them from receiving Medicaid. All they truly have is their social security check and that's it. They are very frugal. They do own a home that is in a trust. Please steer me on the right path so that they can qualify if either needs to be in an assisted living or nursing home. Thank you all. This is a wonderful site.

Just because your name is on their bank account doesn't mean anything to Medicaid. It's whether or not you've taken money from the account for your own use. Medicaid looks back five years and questions all withdrawals over a certain amount. As long as the money was spent on THEM or for THEIR use? Medicaid has no problem with it. It's my understanding that amount is $500. Their home is probably not exempt. It would be a rare trust that exempted a home from Medicaid's long arms, and you would probably know if that's the kind of trust it was.

So can Medicaid still take their home? They are thinking of moving in with me and I dont know what to do with the house--ask them to place it in my name, sell it, keep it until they are no longer with me? Thoughts?

LAL, you call the cops and report a crime.
Scallop: Leave the house in the Trust. Do NOT move them in with you, because Medicaid is based on household income. Read all the trust documents carefully. If they need help call the county social services.

Eldercare attorney or at least good estate planner time. Your name on their account is not likely a big deal, though you could become responsible for overdrafts; though banks don't always like it, if you are POA it could be kosher to access their accounts for the purposes of doing online bill pay, etc. DON'T put you name on credit cards that they might run up debt on, my poor cousin got absolutely clobbered with that when she did not realize my aunt had lost her previously flawless on-time billpaying and sensible financial skills. I had to have a fairly complicated mess of different accounts with several different combinations of names on them all at one PA bank so I could could transfer funds as appropriate. I was Dad's rep payee and moved some of "his" money for Mom's needs at times and vice versa. I still have ALL the documentation though it got boxed up and moved to the attic about two years after Mom passed on. Since Medicaid is in their future, your attorney or estate planner needs to be very aware of Medicaid rules and look back periods. In PA where my folks were, their home actually had to come OUT of a trust not to be a countable asset and that was no mean feat in Allegheny County; it would have been different in a different county or state, and the estate planning company that (mis)handled how it was all set up was based in New Jersey. Medicaid is not in the business of taking people's home while they still need to live in them, but neither are they in the business of preserving anyone's inheritances. It gets complicated and as Medicaid gets more swamped it gets tougher. You may additionally have to consider things like long-term care insurance and filial responsibility laws. It's a steep learning curve.

My recent experience with Medicaid is that there is a 7 year look back. We hired a Medicaid attorney to help with the application and my parents didn't have much (no trusts, only own one home, one car). It is a difficult, frustrating, sad experience.

Pam, I think you're wrong about considering household income. Just because a parent moves in with their adult child doesn't mean that adult child's income is counted to determine eligibility.

Last year when Mom still lived in CA and I was POA to my mother's expenses, I kept track of every penny she spent for her bills. After she was moved to OR, I turned over the POA to my brother to handle her affairs. In December 2013, Mom started using OR Medicaid to help pay for her care at a private room in assisted living after her own funds ran out. She and own our CA condo that she cannot return to but I now live there alone and take care of. After she passes, I have all my records of how Mom paid her bills should Medicaid question my POA handling.

She and I own our CA condo