Do you have a family member or friend in a nursing home?
Nursing home care is expensive. The cost of care can run $100,000 a year or more. Not many people are really ready to pay those costs.
Medicaid is a federal program that can pay all or a part of nursing home care. It requires that “countable” assets not exceed a certain amount, and that monthly income falls below a threshold amount. What the limits are depends on what state the nursing home is in. Whatever the limits, there are exemptions that may help preserve some or all of your assets and income.
Elder Law attorneys are experts at navigating the many rules that apply and at implementing plans which preserves assets and income.
Applying for Medicaid is a complicated matter. Records of bank accounts and investments must be gathered. Deeds and other real estate documents must be produced. Once submitted, the application is examined, and follow-up questions are almost always asked. Producing records often involves using acceptable releases and authorizations, access to online accounts, passwords, and so on. It requires a comfort level with computers and the internet.
Lawyers are adept at getting the right materials to support a Medicaid application. They are good at organizing what can seem like a mountain of documentation into proper order.
Contact your lawyer for help, and if he or she is not actively involved in elder law, let’s talk.