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I know about the $2000.00 income level for Medicaid but I have been told that Medicaid does not count VA"s income because it is not taxable.

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If you receive VA Pension and have no spouse or child, then--if you are in a nursing home and covered by Medicaid--the VA Pension is reduced to $90 per month. Veterans residing in state-run veteran's homes are exempt from this limit.
If you have a spouse or child, then you receive the full VA Pension amount and it counts toward the income limits of Medicaid. Note that the “aid and attendance allowance” or “housebound allowance” portion of a Pension payment does not count as “income” for Medicaid purposes.
In 2014, the income limit for Medicaid is set at $2,163, but in many states this can be reduced by medical expenditures or having the income paid into a type of simple trust. The income rules are discussed in much more detail in my book, Medicaid Secrets.
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Are you referring to VA pensions? For NH situations, the pension will likely not cover the full cost of the NH and they are better going onto Medicaid to pay for NH stay. The funding from VA will be limited to $ 90.00 once they are in a NH on Medicaid. The NH treat the VA $90 like they deal with the personal needs allowance (from $ 35 - 90 a month) allowed to NH residents under Medicaid, so the resident has the full use of the $ 90 plus their PNA under Medicaid. Like for TX the pna is $ 60 a mo & if also VA, they have $ 150.00 a mo to be able to use for their personal allowance.

VA will not pay the pension benefit if they are also on Medicaid for the NH. It makes it tricky for doing the Medicaid application as they currently have the pension but it will go away if & when they get Medicaid. But you have to put it into the application as they may have other money out there and will need to do a spend-down and until they are fully on Medicaid the pension gets paid. The pension is especially good for those who have a spend-down for a couple of years to be able to be on the list for some more select NH (those that have a waiting list for Medicaid beds and the list basically come from their residents who have been there and doing private pay for a couple of years).

If they still have a community spouse or a large spend-down, this seems to be pretty sticky to do just right to maximize the pension situation. I'd really go to see an elder lawyer who has experience with both VA & Medicaid BEFORE the application is done. Good luck.
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My brother, who is receiving community Medicaid, is currently in rehab; the plan is for him to transfer to long term care at the same facility. Concurrently, his Medicaid recertification is due; how should I handle the recertification - should I phone the DSS worker and explain - or not.
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