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Oh, the myths of Medicaid! One that I always hear is that an individual needs to spend all of their assets on care to qualify for Medicaid.Well, that is not the case! Medicaid does enforce asset limits however you do not have to deplete all of your assets on nursing home costs to be eligible for Medicaid.
I got a call from Mike, whose mother is in a nursing home. She has $24,000 in her checking and savings account combined and no other assets. In this particular state, the asset limit is $2000. He stated that the facility said he could pay privately for 2 months, and afterward his mother will be eligible for Medicaid. The facility said they will guide him on the application process. However, he is responsible for the outcome. This made Mike anxious which is why he reached out to me.
After a free consultation with Mike, I learned that he had a few concerns.
- His mother has not prepaid for her funeral arrangements.
- He has to take his mother to appointments however she does not have a vehicle.
- He works full time and he is not able to take on the burden of the Medicaid application without assistance.
This is how we are going to be structuring the spend-down.
- Setting up an irrevocable burial fund for Mike’s mom and putting $6,000 in to it.
- Mike is looking at purchasing a car for his mother that costs around $12,000
- Mike and his mother has hired Sensible Senior Planning for $4,000 to assist with the spenddown and the Medicaid application process.
Once these steps are completed during the month of September, Mike’s mom will be eligible for Medicaid starting September 1st.
Oh, I love the work we do at Sensible Senior Planning!
#Medicaid #medicaidplanningprofessionals #medicaidspenddownstrategies #dementia #seniorsunday #nursinghome
Marlene’s Story
Marlene said that Medicaid told her that she doesn’t qualify for Medicaid because her assets were too high.
She said her only assets were an IRA but her sister told her that the IRA is an exempt asset because her sister went through the same process.
Well, I explain that Medicaid is different in each state.
As it relates to IRA’s and 401k’s there are some states that the applicant’s IRA is considered an exempt asset and rather an income stream if the IRA is in payout status. In other states, it can be considered exempt even if it is not in payout status. In many states, it is not considered an exempt assets rather it is countable whether it is in payout status or not.
Always remember to check your state rules or reach out to a professional who may be able to guide you!
Recertification Frustration
Oh, the frustration!! I got a call from a family who asked me for assistance with the recertification process for Medicaid.
Their father is on Medicaid and the recertification is due. Medicaid is asking for the policies for their father’s IRAs. They explained that his IRA’s don’t have policies and only statements.
How did we work through this? Firstly, I called the caseworker to find out what information she needed to see on a policy for the IRA. I got a letter from the IRA institution that states that his IRA’s do not have policies. I then got the last 12 months of statements for the caseworker. I also got a letter that states what the RMD is for the policies. We submitted this to the recertification caseworker and she was able to accept this.
I have yet to come across a situation where we could not provide a document to suffice what Medicaid is requesting! You may have to provide something alternative then they are asking for though and it is important to have that conversation with them.
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