Medicaid is jointly funded state and federal health insurance program to help low-income individuals receive medical care and defray the cost of prescription drugs. The program also provides benefits Medicare normally does not cover, such personal care services and nursing home care. If you're eligible for Medicaid in your state, you are also automatically eligible [...]
No one expects the spouse of a nursing home resident to die before the resident, but it can and does happen. If no plan was put in place beforehand, a nursing home resident who receives Medicaid may find his eligibility in jeopardy after his or her spouse dies. A nursing home resident cannot have up [...]
A person who receives a monthly Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit is allowed to have up to $2,000 in countable assets ($3,000 for a married couple). If you have more than $2,000 or $3,000 in assets, you may be able to “spend down” your assets in order to qualify for SSI. One way to spend [...]
Another downfall to gifting assets is that the children given the assets may not save for the parent’s needs. When a trust is used to protect assets for long-term care costs, the trustee can access the funds when the time is needed, providing an extra insurance that medical needs can be met. It is important [...]
Recently, planners have advertised, promoted, and nearly shouted about a type of planning known as VA planning. VA planning plays an extremely important role in determining benefit eligibility. Typically, these types of VA planners—the ones you hear about through advertisements—work to ensure individuals receive the most benefits available to them in as short a time [...]
A common myth that we hear is that Medicaid will take away your home when you apply. Like most myths, there is a thread of truth in this statement, but overall it is not true. Medicaid will not take your home when you apply, but if the Medicaid applicant owns the home when he or [...]
While estate planning in general is a very broad topic, the most important thing to remember about estate planning in regards to Medicaid is that people sometimes die in the wrong order. What we mean by this is that it is often assumed the spouse in the nursing home will die first, when the reverse [...]
The Medicaid spend down is the amount of countable assets that a person must spend on medical expenses before qualifying for Medicaid. Managing how best to handle the spend down is an essential part of Medicaid planning, and it begins with understanding the difference between compensated and uncompensated transfers. A compensated transfer is simple, and [...]
Medicaid planning, at its base, is working within the Medicaid laws and rules to protect assets and ensure a suitable quality of life for the patient, the patient’s spouse and the sanity of the patient’s loved ones. It’s comparable to tax planning. The goal is not to evade the system, but to minimize the amount [...]
Your elder law attorney will have a complete list of the requirements and information that is needed for Ohio’s Medicaid application process. It is important to be open and honest about your loved one’s financial accounts, as the penalties for failing to provide information can cause loss of benefits, or worse. Some basic items to [...]