Lack of Verification – Worse than a Medicaid Penalty (Part 2)
In last week’s post, I was talking about how Medicaid eligibility hinges in large part on the State’s scrutiny of 5 years of records under Medicaid’s look back period. Transfers of money out of the applicant’s accounts for less than fair value trigger a Medicaid penalty or
Lack of Verification – Worse than a Medicaid Penalty? Part 1
Whenever we are preparing to file a Medicaid application on behalf of a client we closely examine the 5 years of records that we will need to provide to the State together with the 16 page application. Those records include every statement for every asset the client
The Biggest Misconception about ALFs and Medicaid (Part 3)
The last two weeks I have been talking about the biggest misconception about assisted living facilities and Medicaid so let’s continue. I explained to Carol the issue with level of care – that her mom must establish the need for nursing home level care even
Irrevocable Trusts and Medicaid (Part 3)
I promised in last week’s blog post that I would explain another solution to Mary’s Medicaid dilemma. Her uncle left assets in a trust for Mary but the terms provide that the funds can be used for Mary’s health support and maintenance. I explained to Mary and
Irrevocable Trusts and Medicaid – Part 2
In last week’s blog post I was talking about a call I received about Mary, who is now in a nursing home. She has spent her assets towards her care and the only source of payment left is money that was left in an irrevocable trust for Mary’s
Irrevocable Trusts and Medicaid – Part 1
I’ve written about trusts many times on my blog over the years, specifically about how we get many callers asking us to take a look at an existing trust the caller has set up - or that a family member set up for the caller - to
New Medicaid and VA Figures for 2018 #2018Medicaidnumbers
The cost of living adjustment for 2018 for many of the government programs that affect our clients’ lives has been announced so let’s go over those numbers. For 2018, the Social Security Administration announced that Social Security recipients will receive an increase of 2%, after
Medicaid and Annuities (Part 2)
In last week’s blog, I started to tell you about annuities and how unique they are when we are considering Medicaid. In order to achieve Medicaid eligibility, I must spend down my assets to below $2000 (married couple rules permit assets up to, in some cases, $120,900).
Medicaid’s Confusing Treatment of Trusts (Part 2)
Last week I wrote about trusts and how they are treated by Medicaid. Specifically, I am talking about irrevocable trusts. Most people assume that if they have placed their assets in an irrevocable trust, that by itself is enough to protect the assets from having to be spent down
Medicaid’s Confusing Treatment of Trusts
Not a week goes by in which someone doesn’t call us about Medicaid eligibility as it relates to trusts. The question is usually some version of the following, “I transferred assets to an irrevocable trust. Can you confirm for me that those assets are protected and not countable by