10 BIG MYTHS ABOUT MEDICAID QUALIFICATION
We successfully help families preserve their assets and qualify for Pennsylvania Nursing Home Medicaid benefits
1. Once you are in a nursing home it is too late to start Medicaid Planning.
It is never too late or too early to begin Medicaid Planning. In those cases where planning was not done and the person is already in a nursing home, assets can still be protected. There are strategies that we can use to help you qualify for Medicaid in a short timeframe
2. If you transfer your assets, you won't be eligible for Medicaid for five years.
Although Medicaid may look back at gifts made within five (5) years, not all transfers will create a disqualifying/penalty period. Furthermore, we can create a plan which advises you of the specific way and timing needed to make gifts so that you lessen or do not incur any disqualification/penalty period.
3. You have to give all your assets away or wait until you are impoverished in order to qualify for Medicaid.
There are many strategies that can be used to legally restructure your assets so you don't have to "spend down" your life savings and you can still qualify for Medicaid. An experienced Medicaid Planning attorney can help you choose the right strategies for your family's situation.
4. If you put all your money in your spouse's name, then you will be eligible for Medicaid.
Assets of both the spouse and the applicant are counted in determining financial eligibility. However, there are strategies that can be used for married couples to allow the applicant to qualify almost immediately!
5. If your assets are owned by a living trust, they are protected from nursing homes.
Assets owned by a living trust are still vulnerable to nursing homes costs and are counted when determining financial eligibility. However, there are other types of trusts can be used to protect assets.
6. You can hide your assets to become eligible for Medicaid benefits.
Intentional misrepresentation of assets is a crime. Furthermore, there are several planning strategies that are available to legally restructure your assets and shelter them from long-term care costs. Therefore, with proper planning hiding assets is not necessary.
7.. Medicaid can take your home for reimbursement.
If you’re married, and you or your spouse needs to go into a nursing home, your home is exempt from Medicaid’s calculation of what your contribution to the cost of care should be. If you are single (unmarried or widowed) and you go into a nursing home, your house may be exempt if you follow certain procedures. Married people must be careful, however. If one spouse dies, the home may become available to Medicaid if you have not made adequate plans prior to that.
8. Once you enter a nursing home as private pay, you have to wait until a Medicaid bed is available before you can qualify for Medicaid.
This is incorrect, however you may be told this because private pay patients pay nursing homes more than the state does for Medicaid patients. Also, when someone enters a nursing home they cannot be discharged because they change from private pay to Medicaid. However, if you plan to start as a private pay patient, be sure to ask if the facility accepts Medicaid.
9. The rules that applied to your friend will also apply to you.
Pennsylvania Medicaid rules are complicated and ever-changing. Each situation is unique and has different facts. Therefore, you should not take any action before you have met with an experienced Medicaid Planning attorney in your state.
10. You don't need an attorney to help with Medicaid Planning if a social worker at the nursing home is assisting you.
Social workers are a great resource to assist people in simple situations where an individual does not have assets that they are trying to preserve. However, if you need to shelter assets to care for the spouse that is living in the community or to pass to other family members then it is best to consult with an experienced Medicaid Planning attorney. Our focus is to use strategies that are best suited for each family's unique needs. Wrong or incomplete answers can cost you thousands of dollars each month, however, proper planning can save you around $80,000 or more each year.
Please refer to the sections Medicaid Planning and Asset Protection and Medicaid Applications for more information about how our firm can help you qualify for government programs to pay for nursing homes and long-term care. The Medicaid Planning Law Center welcomes you to contact our office if you or a family member needs legal assistance with Pennsylvania Medicaid, nursing home, or long-term care planning, and would like to schedule an appointment for a free consultation to have your situation evaluated.
