Medicaid Planning

The extraordinary cost of long-term nursing care can swiftly deplete a person's life savings and create great hardship for the spouse who remains in the community. Inability to pay for care may result in inadequate arrangements patched together by desperate family members. Medicare and most health insurance plans do not pay for this kind of care in either a residence or a nursing home.

Younger retirees may be wise to purchase long-term care insurance for themselves, but those who are already ill, frail or aged may not be able to procure such insurance. The Medicaid Program is available as a payor of last resort for those who have beome financially eligible.

Medicaid is a federal program administered through the local county Board of Social Services in the county where the applicant resides. Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal and state governments.

A person can apply for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care or care in the home when the countable, available resources have been reduced to $2,000 plus an allowance for the community spouse (if any) which is called the CSRA or Community Spouse Resource Allowance. This process is called the "spend-down".

It is critical to understand that a transfer of any assets for less than fair market consideration, if made within the five years prior to applying for Medicaid, will generally trigger a disqualification period known as a transfer penalty which begins at the time the applicant has completed the spend-down process and is otherwise eligible for Medicaid benefits.

Certain exceptions exist to the basic transfer penalty rules. Assets can be protected with the structure that was created by Congress for this program.

Medicaid Application Process

The Application process can be complex, requiring up to five years of cancelled checks, receipts and bank statements along with a detailed explanation all cash withdrawals and movement of funds between accounts.

Our Firm has extensive experience in assembling, evaluating, preparing presenting and defending aplications for Medicaid for our clients. We can manage the burdensome details for you and assist you to utilize all opportunities created by federal law to preserve what can be preserved. Each case is managed by a team comprised of a Senior Attorney/Partner, an Associate Attorney and a specialized Legal Assistant.