My dad needs to go into nursing home in NC he gets about 3,500 from his pension a month , he also has a 15,000 life insurance policy from AARP can the nh take his indurance policy 15,000 life insurance AARP
THERE IS A SOLUTION: that eliminates the situation of Medicaid Penalty, Medicaid Denial, or Medicaid Recovery due to having a life insurance policy.
This is very tied to the ongoing discussion here.
ANY life insurance policy providing it has not lapsed, (even term, group, whole, or universal), can be converted into payments to the Assisted Living, or Nursing Home, (Care provider), and is considered A VALID MEDICAID Spend down! (If the FACE Value is over $50,000 it can be considered)!
Avoid letting the policy lapse because the family or the owner cannot afford to pay for the policy, and care at the same time. Don't waste that 'investment' because you think Medicaid will take it after death. If you do the Insurance company is the only benefiting party
Also policies with a cash value can be converted to a FUNERAL TRUST, (another MEDICAID APPROVED spend down), even towards family members!
The trust proceeds are then portable, and are not designated to any particular funeral home, (portable to any location)!, not committed or tied to that funeral home. and the funeral home IS NOT the beneficiiary
A person facing immediate Nursing home needs, (or the POA, power of attorney) yet having (for example) $80,000 can obtain $10,000 (each) , a Funeral trust for self & spouse, and children.
Therefore in contrast to paying it all ($80,000), to the nursing home, can immediately apply for Medicaid.
It may be advisable to search for a Nursing home that accepts both private pay AND Medicaid to preserve 'choice options', enter the nursing home as private pay for one or two months, and convert to Medicaid. In the above example we reserved perhaps $10,000 to $20, for Nursing home payments and $60,000 was devoted to 6 individual Funeral trusts, NOT obtained through the funeral home.
All wonderful suggestions so far, elder law attorney is the place to start. Also is 24-hour care at home an option. NH are wonderful places, but the staffing ratios are difficult. Contact or look up http://www.lifecarefunding.com they can convert life insurance equity to dollars to be used for care. That said still an elder law attorney to make sure that is the prudent thing to do. Also if he is a veteran, might be beneficial to investigate the aid and attendance benefit. All of this stems on the level of care needed and is a nursing home the only option. Sometimes the classic definition of nursing home is not what he needs. Assisted living communities can offer varying levels of care as his needs change. Good luck.
If a spouse is living in the home, that person can stay there. It then sells after the surviving member dies. But realistically a couple could be in the same NH and both on Medicaid.
I like the idea of prepaying your funeral costs, so someone else isn't out $10,000.
I am 61, but my mother is 96 and my MIL is 91. They are both in very nice facilities.
If your life insurance policy is $100,000 or over, you can sell it on the secondary market, just like a house. The insurance company will give you what you have in it (nothing if a term policy) but we can get you up to 7 times more. Any resource that can help you make better decisions about care is vital. Interesting enough, most lawyers don' t even know every option. Do your homework - longtermcare.gov can offer some resources including Aid & Attendance, and life settlements. These do not cost you a penny to receive.
Babalou is right - get an eldercare consultation ASAP and find out what is really at risk and what isn't, and find out if there is anything you need to be doing to protect what you legally can. Life insurance policies with face value are countable assets and may have to be cashed in, but proceeds when the person dies are typically exempt from estate recovery in most cases. Community spouse provisions may not be really great but are supposed to allow you to live in your own home as long as you are able. They are not set up to allow for children to have an inheritance rather than Medicaid being repaid for providing for care expenses though, and by the time Medicaid application may be needed, it is usually too late to do anything to change that. Get help to look at real options, with someone who clearly knows local resources and state Medicaid rules.
Kallen: Are you absolutely sure that your Dad has to go into nursing home? I'm sure that you've checked out all other options, including the three-shift nursing home care. ( less expensive than a N H).. If all other options have closed, and you have no choice but to send him into a N H, then that's it. They will send you a bill. How you pay it is up to you. Medicaid, the state-supported program, can offer assistance, but their rules are horrific. These rules have been discussed here many times by different caregivers in different states. You may want to read Gabriel Heiser's book on Medicaid before you do anything.
Please contact an eldercare attorney. Medicaid has no interest in impoverished the spouse who still lives in the community. You are able to keep something around 100,000 as the community spouse. Find a lawyer who will do a free half hour consult and see if you find his advice worthwhile to invest in
wamnanealz I am also in MD and spend sleepless nights worrying about if my husband has to end up in a NH with his dementia. I am also concerned about how I would possibly pay the taxes on my house and other expenses as I would only have enough money from SS and his pension to just get by on.
My husband is in the same situation. I took out life insurance on him about 30 years ago and am still paying on that policy. It is now worth about $120,000 if he dies. If he has to go into a home, they will take everything, including the policy worth only about $40,000 if you cash it in. I don't want to do this because I own my own home. They can't take away your home or your car. They can take a second home or a second car. If I spend down to $2000, the allotted amount to have in the bank, I won't even be able to pay my taxes on the house. I just don't understand it all. I will have to contact a lawyer if it comes to that. And I don't know how I will pay him! I live in MD. God help us. We do all the caregiving and we don't have enough to live on. It just stinks.
Nursing homes costs about $70,000 to $80,000 a year to care for a single patient every year (not a private room either). Despite the high amount, many receive very poor care, prone to infection from the other inmates, and abuse. My understanding of medicaid is that they seize the entire family estate (except the home, which they can get after the person dies)--in my State you have to "spend down" for the cost of his care to some ridiculously low amount of money -- you are only allowed to spend it on the cost of his care, or invest in home repairs/rennovations, funeral costs, and or a buy a new car (which most likely he won't be able to drive). They have a five year look back law, so you can't transfer the estate monies to your account without Medicaid penalizing (they will not allow the person into a nursing home until that amount is used up equivalent to being in a nursing home, something like that--it's horribly complicated). Medicare will NOT pay for long term care -- the person has to be in the hospital for 3 days, and Medicare will only pay for 100 days in a nursing home for rehab. Anyway, once the money is "spent down" (and PLEASE see an eldercare attorney about this because it has to be done right), he will be eligible for Medicaid. The nursing home will seize his entire income for cost of his care. This does not relieve the stress for caregivers, however. You MUST visit very frequently - even daily - otherwise your loved one will be more prone to abuse and neglect. $3,500 a month you should be able to very nice assisted living facility. If he's ABLE, I would check into assisted living and try to stay off of Medicaid like the plague.
Check w/ NC SHIP office. www.seniorsresourceguide.com/directories/National/SHIP/ If his pension and social security cover the cost of care, his life insurance will be payable as written. If the $3500/mo is all he has and that is not enough for the cost of care and Medicaid pays even a fraction of his costs, there could be a lien at death to recover that cost to the state. Could he stay in a board and care? The lower cost could maybe be covered by his pension.
If it is term life with no cash value there is no reason to take it from him. It is not the NH that takes it, it would be NC Medicaid rules. Read the policy and see what type it is.
I know in Kansas medicade does not allow payments for insurance and policy has to be cashed in and used towards care. Doesn't sound like this is a medicade issue however.
This is very tied to the ongoing discussion here.
ANY life insurance policy providing it has not lapsed, (even term, group, whole, or universal), can be converted into payments to the Assisted Living, or Nursing Home, (Care provider), and is considered A VALID MEDICAID Spend down! (If the FACE Value is over $50,000 it can be considered)!
Avoid letting the policy lapse because the family or the owner cannot afford to pay for the policy, and care at the same time. Don't waste that 'investment' because you think Medicaid will take it after death. If you do the Insurance company is the only benefiting party
Also policies with a cash value can be converted to a FUNERAL TRUST, (another MEDICAID APPROVED spend down), even towards family members!
The trust proceeds are then portable, and are not designated to any particular funeral home, (portable to any location)!, not committed or tied to that funeral home. and the funeral home IS NOT the beneficiiary
A person facing immediate Nursing home needs, (or the POA, power of attorney) yet having (for example) $80,000 can obtain $10,000 (each) , a Funeral trust for self & spouse, and children.
Therefore in contrast to paying it all ($80,000), to the nursing home, can immediately apply for Medicaid.
It may be advisable to search for a Nursing home that accepts both private pay AND Medicaid to preserve 'choice options', enter the nursing home as private pay for one or two months, and convert to Medicaid.
In the above example we reserved perhaps $10,000 to $20, for Nursing home payments and $60,000 was devoted to 6 individual Funeral trusts, NOT obtained through the funeral home.
Contact or look up http://www.lifecarefunding.com they can convert life insurance equity to dollars to be used for care. That said still an elder law attorney to make sure that is the prudent thing to do.
Also if he is a veteran, might be beneficial to investigate the aid and attendance benefit.
All of this stems on the level of care needed and is a nursing home the only option. Sometimes the classic definition of nursing home is not what he needs. Assisted living communities can offer varying levels of care as his needs change.
Good luck.
I like the idea of prepaying your funeral costs, so someone else isn't out $10,000.
I am 61, but my mother is 96 and my MIL is 91. They are both in very nice facilities.
If all other options have closed, and you have no choice but to send him into a N H, then that's it. They will send you a bill. How you pay it is up to you.
Medicaid, the state-supported program, can offer assistance, but their rules are horrific. These rules have been discussed here many times by different caregivers in different states. You may want to read Gabriel Heiser's book on Medicaid before you do anything.
If his pension and social security cover the cost of care, his life insurance will be payable as written. If the $3500/mo is all he has and that is not enough for the cost of care and Medicaid pays even a fraction of his costs, there could be a lien at death to recover that cost to the state. Could he stay in a board and care? The lower cost could maybe be covered by his pension.