Medicaid Crisis or Planning

Medicaid Crisis Response

Medicaid Crisis happens quickly. Sometimes it happens like this … a client has a spouse in rehab after a medical emergency.  Once the rehabilitation benefits under Medicare have reached 100 days, her care will no longer be covered. What then? The patient is then required to pay privately for their own care. This can cost between $8,000 and $12,000 per month.

If you are living this scenario, you need to talk with us about Medicaid Crisis Response. Usually, there are only a few days in which to put together an asset protection plan for the ailing parent or spouse, so it is imperative that the client obtain sound legal advice. A wrong move can jeopardize all of the loved one’s assets.

What can be done?

It very much depends upon the family situation. Many tools and strategies can be used to protect the money they have saved over a lifetime.  In some cases, we can retain most of the assets, and in others, most of the income.  If you don’t do anything, or worse, if you do the wrong thing, all your wealth might be consumed by the high costs of long term care.

In some cases, family members have been living with and are or will be taking care of mom and/or dad. This can expand the options available. For example, if the daughter has been living with and taking care of mom, then perhaps the house could be transferred to the daughter.  If a child is herself disabled, the mother could transfer the house to the disabled child. In some cases,  we might be able to utilize a Pooled Trust which would provide benefits for the client and if any assets remained at her death, they would pass to North Carolina Medicaid.

There are Many Situations and Every Case is Different.

Here are some of the steps we take when working with our clients:

• Engaging in a discussion with the client, family, or professional advisers about your current income and assets, and the timing for Medicare and Nursing Homes or Continuing Care Retirement Centers
• Summary of the current qualification criteria (it changes regularly!)
• Assistance working with a particular facility and working with you to qualify for the specific facility sought (how you can manage funds for immediate qualification)
• Short-term strategies for getting you or your loved one to the qualification point and safely into the facility you need
• Completion of Trusts and other contracts that secure your hard-earned money

Let us help you. Call us today and we will begin the journey to your peace of mind.

Medicaid Planning

In the above scenario, our clients have immediate needs.  If you have time to plan, and do not anticipate needing Medicaid for at least five years, we have many exceptional options available to you.  We can generally save most of your assets for your heirs, and yet still provide comfortable care if and when you need it.

This planning is complex, and may include trusts, long term care insurance, life insurance, gifting, business interests succession planning, LLCs, and so on.  We work with your professional financial planners and others to form a complete strategy for you.

Call us today, while you are healthy, and plan your future needs. We provide solutions that make sense to YOU.

Some families ask if we help with Medicaid applications.  We do NOT file the Medicaid application for you.  We are able to work with you or the skilled nursing community on an hourly billing basis to gather documents, and since we scan the documents, we can send them to DHHS or Social Services each time they request documents.  Please note that the community is able to make an application and they work closely with caseworkers, or you can work with the caseworkers directly.