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Hi. My mom has applied for (well, I have applied for her) Medicaid in NJ. She has been clinically approved for "in community care" and we in the process of the financial approval and finding out what her penalty is. She has dementia and is still mild/moderate so no facility just yet, which is her wishes. I hired a Medicaid advisor as part of her spend down and I fully understand every rule in play except two. We live in the high cost state of NJ. Her only income is SS which is $1700 a month. Here's where the problem comes in... Her real estate taxes are $1700 every three months. I have NO idea how I'm going to keep her account below $2,000 at the end of the month if she has to pay taxes the following month, because that will leave her with $300 to get by for the first 2.5 weeks of the month until SS hits and she has her supplemental Medicare and Rx plan (which her planner suggested she keep for now because not all Drs take Medicaid) to pay before it hits of $600. So every 3 months she won't have enough in her account to pay these bills.
My second part of this question is, she gets the annual senior tax freeze check, which goes directly to residents and not the town, as well as the Anchor benefit check. Both checks are over $2000 each once again putting her over the asset limit those 2 months. I know I can figure out a way to spend down her money (unnecessarily I might add) with new furniture, clothes, anything else she may "need" but is there anything else I can do?
Finally, my last question is if she goes over the limit for one month is she disqualified for Medicaid the following month? So if she has $2500 in her account she has to pay for her home care of $5,000 a month with money she doesn't have? How does this work?
I am absolutely appalled that they make seniors go completely broke, using a number that was created in 1989 (did my research on this). She should be allowed to keep an amount of money that is equal to the cost of her home care, at the very least. This is a broken system, but I digress.

Medicaid does not make monthly assessments, I think its once a year. You can very well explain that the taxes will be coming out of her checking acct. The freeze and Anchor maybe able to be applied to her taxes. Ask your tax office if you can write a check for the amount of both. Then Medicaid sees it go in and out of her account and you explain it if asked. Both are given because she pays taxes so should be able to apply them to her tax balance. My Mom paid her taxes monthly. Just a thought, I get my freeze and anchor by check. Just don't deposit the check. Cash the check and see if you can do a money order or certified check for the amount and apply it to her township tax acct. This way it never hits her statement which is what Medicaid sees.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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NJFam44 Dec 1, 2025
Those are all great suggestions thank you. They won't allow a monthly payment, but she does get her anchor via check, and I can definitely cash it instead. I also thought once we have a caseworker assigned I can ask them, if that's a thing. So what would happen if her account went over $2,000 one month but it was removed the next month for taxes, and when we recertify they see the account over $2,000. She can't be the only one in this position, especially in NJ. Her taxes are fairly low because her house is so small, basically apartment sized.
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Find out if you can pay the bills with monthly installments instead of three monthly. Few creditors turn down installments being paid in advance.
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Reply to MargaretMcKen
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NJFam44 Dec 1, 2025
They do not allow monthly payments unfortunately.
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I would see an elder law attorney for advice and options. In truth, her home should likely now be sold and the assets used for her placement.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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NJFam44 Dec 1, 2025
I cannot force her to do that, it is out of my control. She is not ready for "placement" but she qualifies for home care with an aide a few times a week. We did see an elder attorney but they don't have suggestions for this since every town in different.
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