I am considering going into a NH. Anyone have answers to my insurance questions?

In my state of SC, if you go into a nursing home that accepts medicaid, they will talke all but $30 of your monthly check.The $30 will go to you to spend as you please. Typically this should be spent on toiletries, clothing, etc for your direct benefit.

My suggestion would be to ask your daughter and son if they would be willing to pay the life insurance premiums for you, so they are not burdened with your final expenses.

We are currently doing this for a disabled family member who is in a nursing home. It is not a problem for us to pay the monthly ife insurance premiums, we far prefer that to paying a lump sum for his final expenses.

When I purchased additional life insurance on myself to help take care of my husband should I die first, I mentioned to our financial advisor that if he dies first then I could cancel it since I would no longer need it to help take care of him. His response was before cancelling any insurance policy check with other family members to see if they would want to pay the premiums to get the benefits... especially if it is a policy that has been paid on for a long time.

On this note, I use to work for our State's Medicaid Recovery Program. Our state would rather pay insurance premiums (health) for recipients which was less than paying the full cost of their care. So when it involves Medicaid, ask if that is an option and they may pick up the premiums if they feel it would benefit them in the long run.

As someone else has said, my husband's life insurance premium was waived when he presented documentation of his disability. So there may be a NH waiver.

Jacilyn: Perhaps you should retain an elder law attorney well versed in Medicaid.

Some life insurance policies waive the premium cost if you go into a NH. I know my mom's policy stated that. She didn't have to pay premiums after she went into NH. Check your policy.

I am assuming the $5000 policy is on your husband and if you outlive him, you are the beneficiary. If that policy has cash value, he should have had to cash out. If it was term life (no cash value), that's why you got to keep it. Also, same for the $10K policy you have with daughter as beneficiary - term life, it doesn't count, but whole life with cash value would have to be cashed out. It is viewed as an asset you own that could help you pay for NH before medicaid has to cover some/all of the cost for you. In other words, you can't save back monies and ask government to pay medical costs for you.

You would probably have to talk to an elder attorney (or perhaps the funeral home) to find out how the any leftover money from a funeral would be handled so that you do the correct thing with these policies especially since you already set up one funeral with a policy (and I'm not clear if that was your policy or your hubby's).

Even if you get to keep the policies, Medicaid makes you use all your income toward NH and then they pay the extra to cover monthly bill. In Texas $60 is held out and given to the person, all the rest goes to pay your NH bill (when both spouses are in NH care). If the policies don't have any cash value, tell your daughter to pay the premiums...probably a small investment to continue them so there will be some funeral funds.

Really best to talk to an elder atty. Or you could contact legal aid where you live if you cannot afford atty fees.

When mom went into a nursing home, the lawyer had me take a loan against the policy. Otherwise, no Medicaid.

Jacilyn, no, Medicaid will not let you keep extra money to pay for life insurance premiums.

Get with the social worker and find out how you get funerals prepaid.

AR seems to allow 40.00 a month for personal needs allowance. This is all the money, besides whatever cash you are allowed after spend down.

Best of luck getting this sorted out.

This is what we learned any life insurance with a cash value had to be cashed out and put towards a pre paid funeral for that person which was my BIL. So we cashed out his life insurance plan put it towards his funeral where it couldn't be cashed out. We had to do this for Medicaid to get him onto Medicaid which we did this past Dec 2022. They told us at the funeral home if there is any money left over and someone has paid for things for the funeral you can pay them for that. But after that the money goes to Medicaid.

With Medicaid you can have under $2000 in your account but everything like social security and pension goes to pay the nursing home and Medicaid pays the rest. Medicaid allows you to keep $50 of your social security for necessities. Like with my BIL that $50 he has will pay for his nursing home phone and he has $8 left over for anything else he wants.

And with me being rep payee from my BIL it isn't too good when family members think you are spending his money and he isn't getting a dime of it. Yes I was turned into social security for this last year. I have been his rep payee for 4yrs then this happens. I will be turning everything over to the nursing home so they can pay everything and I won't be turned in again. This is the 3rd time for that side of the family to get me 2 times with DHS which were unfounded. They stoop to a new low this time.

Prayers

When my father went into a nursing home, we cashed in his life insurance policy to pre-pay his burial expense. His home was a double wide mobile home. We sold that and then spent down the money, as he was only allowed to keep $1500 in the bank. His burial had to be pre-paid before he went in the nursing home. I’m sure laws vary from state to state (he was in Ohio), so you should probably consult someone knowledgeable. I see people referring you to a lawyer. I think that costs money that you may not have. I’d contact your county’s Department of Aging and see if they have someone who can advise you for free before I’d pay someone. Wishing you all the best!

"So much to consider!" Yes, so true. I just finished going through the Medicaid application process for my brother who is in a NH. The details of life insurance, Medicaid rules, etc. are far too complicated to try to work on it alone. I completely agree that an elder law attorney would be very helpful and would help ease a lot of anxiety. It did for me. Also, there may be a social worker at the nursing home who can help you or connect you with an attorney. If you apply for Medicaid, you will have a case worker who can also help with questions. This is a nerve-wracking process, so do what you can to take care of yourself while going through it.

I agree. An attorney is needed to help deal with complex Medicaid rules.

Medicaid planning where a couple is involved is the territory for a CELA-Elder Law attorney. Find one and make an appointment asap.