My grandmother was killed in a car accident so we had to abruptly place my grandfather into an assisted living center. He only has medicare and it won't cover extended care; therefore, medicaid is the other option. He has had stocks in his name for over 30 years that he doesn't even touch as he has parkinsons and is in a wheelchair. We have placed everything he has into a family trust except for his stocks. Medicaid won't approve him because he technically has "assets". He has no income. What are our options?
Medicaid places a penalty on gifting or transfers. It’s basically a fixed math problem. Your state has a set daily Medicaid room & board reimbursement rate. This is the penalty divisor figure. So say dad transferred / gifted 100k of assets to form that Family Trust & your state pays the facility $178.90 R&B. That’s 559 DAYS transfer penalty placed on his Medicaid eligibility. It’s not a “probationary period”, it’s total ineligibility by # of days before Medicaid will pay a penny.
Dads broke, he’s impoverished at 2k, all he’ll have is his monthly income like his SS or pension. It will fall to you to private pay whatever shortfall from his income for his AL care for 559 days or dad moves out of the AL or NH and you caregive at home till it’s beyond penalty period.
In order for a LTC Medicaid application to go forward they have to be basically impoverished with a max of 2k of nonexempt assets and mo income under your states income limit (most abt $2,100).
Its good you are seeing new elder law atty. I hope they are NAELA or CELA level of expertise with experience as to how Medicaid runs for your states. As others have said, the stocks he owns are assets that must be cashed out and used in a spend down for his care. He’s already in a facility, so the options of doing creative stuff financially that could benefit you & other heirs don’t exist. That ship has sailed.....⛵️🚤🚢
That Family Trust may not be Medicaid “compliant”.
& I’m gonna bet a case of Prosecco that it’s not. & if it just recently done, in haste to protect his assets, it’s going to be an issue for Medicaid.
It was - I’ll guess - done for Estate & Tax Planning not Medicaid Planning. It would imo have needed to be irrevocable & done like back in 2012 - 2013 to be beyond Medicaid look back. The $ moved by him to feed the trust he set up may be an “allowed” move of his $ as he is a part of the Trust. But Trust will not be “compliant” for his Medicaid eligibility is my guess.
Compliant basically means MEDICAID IS PRIMARY BENEFICIARY.
Yeah read that again, Medicaid is beneficiary first & foremost.
Not you or your siblings.
Its good you are seeing a new atty. & clearly ask if their experienced with Medicaid application & Estate Recovery (MERP).
Also clearly find out IF Medicaid in your state pays for AL and how. Medicaid for NH aka skilled nursing care is required dedicated funding by the feds. But Medicaid for AL is optional for states to do. If AL is done it’s via waivers and waivers usually have limited # allowed per fiscal year. It’s not unusual to have an existing waiting list for AL waiver with placement dependent on a needs assessment along with filing date. Waivers have lots of haziness, so IF an AL participates in the state waiver program, it may just be 10-20% of beds at the AL. This is why you often hear, it takes 2 years of private pay at an AL before Medicaid will pay. What is kinda means is that usually within 2 years enough of those AL waiver beds will have residents who die or move away or go into a NH thus creating an open bed within a couple of years.
Again ask atty what Medicaid & AL policy is for your state.
I do hope you get your case of Prosecco this year!
You deserve thanks for all of your voluntary good support of caregivers here!
I want to "be reaching out to you", considering the "challenges we face" having a loved one with a family trust. After over two years without his own belongings, living in a few different family members homes, I have come to believe the trusts are monies only for the beneficiaries, and not readily accessible to the hard working person who created the trust. Is that true?
Should we be suspicious of trusts? How did this happen that my elderly loved one was forced to live at the mercy of his ignorant children?
There, I softened it. Imo, he was made more vulnerable to exploitation because of the trust. So, I am hating trusts and wills.
In other words, spend down the stocks.
"We just heard there's some probationary period for 5 years after stocks are gifted wherein he cannot get approved for things like medicaid. Is that true? I'll be consulting a new elder care attorney next week."
Yes, it is true. Why should taxpayers pay for his care when he has assets? If this is what your attorney told you, it is correct. Do not waste your money on another attorney.
Does someone have Power of Attorney, which would allow them to sell the stocks so that the funds could be used for GF's care?