All the money in a joint bank account is deemed owned by the Medicaid applicant except to the extent the other co-owner of the account can prove they contributed funds to that account. The only time there would be a penalty is if an account NOT in joint names is changed to an "AND" account with someone else. Then, the original 100% owner is deemed to have made a gift of the full amount in the bank account on that date.
OK, Roscoe, I'm taking the bait! Medicaid doesn't TAKE money from people. Medicaid pays for long term nursing care for poor people (among other things). Medicaid is not a 'crook' to use your term. It provides a safety net for people who either didn't earn enough to save for their non-working years or who squandered their earnings and didn't plan for their retirement. When someone has the money to pay for their care, they are, of course, required to do so. So, when you need to sell an asset, like your house, to pay for your care, that has nothing to do with Medicaid except for the fact that if you do ask to be supported by Medicaid, they will ask you to prove that you meet the requirements for the entitlement. Medicaid doesn't take your money. The facility that is taking care of you is paid by you and Medicaid (if you're eligible) for their services. You are always free to care for your family members yourself if you don't want the involvement of government support.
My orderly parents have a joint checking account. The only deposits that go in are both of their soc sec checks and a 33.00 pension payment. Usually by the end of the month the acct is either empty or has only a couple of hundred dollars in it. Will this affect dad getting Medicaid ...so far neither has been eligible. Supposedly, living on$2.200. Aprox per month makes them rich! How? Especially when living expenses almost cap out as that each month. Dad needs placement,cannot afford and no Medicaid to assist....
My mother lives with me. I work full time. She only gets 1,700 a month from social security and my late fathers pension. How in the future would I be able to afford a nursing home or assisted living facility when I can barely cover my own expenses per month?
Lindipan - what is the total amount each month that your parents get? You say they don't qualify, but you really think Dad needs a NH, right? You may have a couple of different issues going on...
1. His income is just too much for the Medicaid cap or ceiling in your state. Medicaid is managed by the states so each state gets to put their income max. Most have it at $ 2,022.00 but some states are higher or lower. Like my mom is in TX and it is $ 2,094.00. So you need to find that out. Now if it's the case that Dad gets say $ 1,000.00 in SS & a pension of $ 1,400 too. So Dad total each month has $ 2,400 in income. No matter what Texan Dad gets $ 2,400.00 which is $ 306.00 over. So Dad doesn't qualify financially for Medicaid. What Dad can do is a Miller Trust (aka Guaranteed Income Trust). What Miller does is establish a trust - which the state is the beneficiary - that each month the excess income goes into and the presto! Dad's income is now under the Medicaid limit. When Dad dies the $ in Miller goes to the state completely. Miller has to be done so that it is adaptable for your state law, so has to be done by an attorney. Miller is totally legit and done all the time - I know of elders who have railroad retirement & RR pays really really well but not enough to pay for a 8K NH a month so they get Miller done. Miller can be done on any income that is guaranteed.
2. He doesn't qualify medically. Remember Medicaid requires both financial and medical necessity. When they living at home and don't have major diseases, they won't have the fat medical file to show the need for skilled nursing care (aka NH). Just because they are old (or even super old), have dementia or can't do for themselves it not enough to be qualify for a NH. Most NH admissions come from a discharge from a hospitalization (usually a fall and hip break) to a NH for rehab. Then they end up staying at the NH. If you think this is what keeping dad from qualifying, then I'd highly suggest you find a gerontologist who is also a medical director of a NH and then take your dad to see them so they can now become their MD. They will know how to write up his chart so that there is clearly a pattern of care that will require skilled nursing. My mom went from IL to NH and bypassed AL by doing this. For us it meant, she went to her doc every 4 -6 weeks and the day she had lost more than 10% of her body weight and had a bad H & H, he wrote the orders for skilled nursing needed.
Medicaid doesn't TAKE money from people. Medicaid pays for long term nursing care for poor people (among other things). Medicaid is not a 'crook' to use your term. It provides a safety net for people who either didn't earn enough to save for their non-working years or who squandered their earnings and didn't plan for their retirement.
When someone has the money to pay for their care, they are, of course, required to do so.
So, when you need to sell an asset, like your house, to pay for your care, that has nothing to do with Medicaid except for the fact that if you do ask to be supported by Medicaid, they will ask you to prove that you meet the requirements for the entitlement.
Medicaid doesn't take your money. The facility that is taking care of you is paid by you and Medicaid (if you're eligible) for their services.
You are always free to care for your family members yourself if you don't want the involvement of government support.
1. His income is just too much for the Medicaid cap or ceiling in your state. Medicaid is managed by the states so each state gets to put their income max. Most have it at $ 2,022.00 but some states are higher or lower. Like my mom is in TX and it is $ 2,094.00. So you need to find that out. Now if it's the case that Dad gets say $ 1,000.00 in SS & a pension of $ 1,400 too. So Dad total each month has $ 2,400 in income. No matter what Texan Dad gets $ 2,400.00 which is $ 306.00 over. So Dad doesn't qualify financially for Medicaid. What Dad can do is a Miller Trust (aka Guaranteed Income Trust). What Miller does is establish a trust - which the state is the beneficiary - that each month the excess income goes into and the presto! Dad's income is now under the Medicaid limit. When Dad dies the $ in Miller goes to the state completely. Miller has to be done so that it is adaptable for your state law, so has to be done by an attorney. Miller is totally legit and done all the time - I know of elders who have railroad retirement & RR pays really really well but not enough to pay for a 8K NH a month so they get Miller done. Miller can be done on any income that is guaranteed.
2. He doesn't qualify medically. Remember Medicaid requires both financial and medical necessity. When they living at home and don't have major diseases, they won't have the fat medical file to show the need for skilled nursing care (aka NH). Just because they are old (or even super old), have dementia or can't do for themselves it not enough to be qualify for a NH. Most NH admissions come from a discharge from a hospitalization (usually a fall and hip break) to a NH for rehab. Then they end up staying at the NH. If you think this is what keeping dad from qualifying, then I'd highly suggest you find a gerontologist who is also a medical director of a NH and then take your dad to see them so they can now become their MD. They will know how to write up his chart so that there is clearly a pattern of care that will require skilled nursing. My mom went from IL to NH and bypassed AL by doing this. For us it meant, she went to her doc every 4 -6 weeks and the day she had lost more than 10% of her body weight and had a bad H & H, he wrote the orders for skilled nursing needed.
Isn'tEasy, this should be fun to watch as Roscoe posts.
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