Medicaid Planning and Application

MEDICAID is a federal-state assistance program operated by state governments. It provides assistance with medical costs for families and individuals with limited income and assets. This includes children, parents, pregnant women, seniors, and those with disabilities. It covers doctor visits, hospital stays, long term medical care, custodial care, and other health costs.

MEDICAID and MEDICARE are federally sponsored programs designed to help with health care and medical costs. MEDICARE is available to anyone 65 years of age or older or to anyone who is disabled. MEDICAID is an income-based program. To qualify for MEDICAID, you must meet strict income and eligibility requirements. You can qualify for both.

MEDICAID will pay for long-term care in a nursing home. Many seniors rely on MEDICAID to pay for their nursing home care. If you meet the strict asset and income requirements MEDICAID will pay for 100% of your long-term care.

Any gifts or transfers that you have made five years prior to your application for MEDICAID are reviewed to determine if you are subject to a penalty period of MEDICAID ineligibility. If you made any gifts or transfers prior to this five-year period, they will not be reviewed.

Ideally, MEDICAID planning should occur long before the need for long-term care. However, no one can see into the future and see when then they will need this type of care. If you are not able to plan early, there are still steps that can be taken to help with the MEDICAID process.

MEDICAID planning is part of your estate planning. The purpose of MEDICAID planning is to help ensure that you qualify for MEDICAID while protecting your assets for your loved ones. An attorney can help you develop and execute a MEDICAID planning strategy to help preserve your assets.

Not everyone plans ahead, or they unexpectedly face a need for long-term health care. MEDICAID crisis planning is when you or a loved one has an immediate or near immediate need for MEDICAID. Even though you were not able to plan for your long-term care needs, there are strategies available that you can use.

In order to qualify for MEDICAID, you must meet certain income and asset requirements. If you are above those limits, you will need to use your assets to cover your long-term care expenses. MEDICAID will allow you to “spend-down” your income or assets on approved expenses in order to qualify for MEDICAID.