Worcester Medicaid Planning Attorney

Medicaid planning helps set seniors up to apply for Medicaid successfully, whether they need to carefully monitor their current assets or ensure that a healthy spouse, who might be able to remain at home longer, still has the necessary funds to stay at home. There are several key elements that a Medicaid planning attorney can help you take into account.

THE 5-YEAR LOOKBACK PERIOD

In order to qualify for Medicaid, the eligible individual needs to own under a set number of assets, including ready cash, real estate, and investments. Some people, in order to get below the set income amount, will try to give gifts to family members and friends in an effort to “spend down” their assets and make sure that they meet the eligibility requirements. Medicaid will look at gifts, transfers of assets, and other expenditures for a five-year period before the applicant applied for benefits in order to determine eligibility, and may assign penalties for any gifts given during that time that exceed a certain amount.

QUALIFIED INCOME TRUSTS

Sometimes, a patient who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid, or who cannot afford to cover the cost of long-term care without Medicaid, has a little too much income–including as little as $1 per month!–to actively qualify for Medicaid. A Qualified Income Trust can set funds aside that no longer count as income, which are used to cover the patient’s medical bills, care costs, and even Medicare premiums. As a result, the funds in that trust no longer count toward the income limit for Medicaid, so the patient can qualify.

ASSET SPEND-DOWN

In order to qualify for Medicaid, the senior in question can only have a certain amount of assets on hand, including a set amount of available funds. While there are some assets that are protected–and into which many seniors choose to put some of their extra funds–seniors may need to spend down their available assets in order to ensure that they will meet eligibility requirements when they’re ready to apply for Medicaid.

MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY

Medicaid eligibility, unlike Medicare, does not have specific age limit requirements. It is, however, intended to cover the cost of medical services, including long-term care, for many people, including elderly and disabled individuals. Eligibility requirements may depend on household size and your overall income: for example, if you are married, you may be allowed a greater overall income than if you’re single. Medicaid may also have specific asset requirements that you must meet, also based on family size.

WHEN SHOULD I START MEDICAID PLANNING?

Medicaid planning starts long before you actually need long-term care services. Ideally, you need to start planning more than five years before you’re ready to seek aid with long-term care costs, since the Medicaid lookback period will consider your assets for five years prior to your application.

HOW CAN A LAWYER HELP WITH MEDICAID PLANNING?

By working with an experienced Worcester Medicaid planning attorney, you can receive a number of advantages.

• Learn how to protect and distribute as many of your assets as possible, whether you want to have access to some of those assets while in long-term care or protect them for your heirs.
• Help a healthy spouse stay in the home for as long as possible while still retaining the assets needed to live a fulfilling life.
• Learn how to effectively spend down your available assets.
• Discover what eligibility requirements you need to make.
• Streamline your Medicaid application when you’re ready to apply, increasing the odds that you will get approved the first time.

FINDING THE BEST WORCESTER MEDICAID PLANNING ATTORNEY FOR YOU

Do you need a Worcester Medicaid planning attorney? You want an experienced attorney who can help you navigate the challenges associated with your Medicaid application. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.