The Perils of GoFundMe – Part 2
In my post last week, I wrote about a particular solution - really attempted solution - to the financial burdens caused by a catastrophic illness or injury. In the age of the internet, crowd funding websites have made it easier to raise money from a large group of people. The GoFundMe site
The Perils of GoFundMe (Part 1)
In this week’s blog post, I write about a particular solution - or really attempted solution - to the financial burden caused by a catastrophic illness or accident. A family member calls concerning a loved one who has suffered a serious illness or accident, one that will result in needing extensive
Medicaid Redetermination – Part 7
In my blog post last week, I discussed the calculation of Mary’s elective share. That is the amount Mary is entitled to receive as a result of her husband, George’s death, which turned out to be $300,000. Obviously this is more than the $2000 in assets she is entitled to keep to
Medicaid Redetermination – Part 6
Picking up where I left off in my blog post last week, George died leaving his wife, Mary who is on Medicaid which has a strict asset limit of $2000. While George was alive we had him change his will to leave Mary only the minimum amount required to satisfy New
Medicaid Redeterminations – Part 3
In this third post on Medicaid redeterminations, I explain changes that occur after Medicaid is approved that cause problems when it comes time for a Medicaid redetermination. One change is an expected or unexpected sum of money received by the Medicaid recipient. This could be because of an inheritance, personal injury settlement
2024 Medicaid Penalty Divisor
As I have written about frequently in this blog, many of the Medicaid numbers are updated annually. Most but not all are adjusted in lock step with Social Security’s cost of living adjustment (COLA). One Medicaid number that doesn’t adjust with Social Security is the Medicaid penalty divisor. That is the number by
The Medicaid Spend Down Scramble – Part 2
The Medicaid Spend Down Scramble - Part 2 In my blog post last week, I wrote about the rushed process of spending down assets to achieve Medicaid eligibility for one spouse without severely impoverishing the other non-Medicaid “community spouse”. While maximizing what that spouse can keep - what is known as exempt
The Medicaid Spend Down Scramble – Part 1
I have written in past blog posts about Medicaid’s 5 year look back and the need to be familiar with the transactions that Medicaid will be reviewing. We still, however, receive many calls where a quick spend down to Medicaid is necessary. In the case of a married couple where only one
2024 Medicaid Numbers
Last month in this blog I updated you on some of the new Social Security and Medicare numbers for 2024. The recently announced cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 3.2% has resulted in a much smaller benefit increase than the past 2 years. Many other federal programs are tied to the Social
Another Medicaid Cautionary Tale – Part 3
In my blog post last week, I explained that John was unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain Medicaid benefits for his mom. He then ended up being sued by the facility for the amount of unpaid bills which were not covered by Medicaid. But why did his repeated attempts fail? From my conversation