Medicaid Planning
Securing Medicaid coverage with a proactive approach is consequential. Private pay insurance and/or Medicare do not cover nursing home care unless it includes skilled nursing and care is temporary. It costs thousands of dollars per month to pay for nursing home custodial care, unless you have completed Medicaid planning in advance.
Pyke, Presley & Associates, P.C. can assist you with your Medicaid planning needs. Medicaid planning is for everyone – even if you don’t realize the importance, or urgency to initiate a plan. To find out more about Medicaid planning and why it is a necessity, contact Pyke, Presley & Associates, P.C. at 770-507-2500 for personalized planning advice. Reach out today and get answers to questions like:
- What exactly is Medicaid planning?
- When do I begin Medicaid planning?
- How can Pyke, Presley & Associates, P.C. service my Medicaid planning needs?
Let’s dive in!
What exactly is Medicaid planning?
Even if you aren’t sure what Medicaid planning is, it is likely that you have heard the terminology. Medicaid is a federal system of health insurance for those requiring financial assistance; however, not everyone qualifies for Medicaid. Medicaid is funded by the government to ensure that funds are available to cover medical expenses for low income families with limited resources. Because you cannot qualify for Medicaid if you have a substantial amount of money or property, many seniors will not be eligible for Medicaid. Since Medicaid is essentially the only insurance that will cover the costs of custodial care in nursing homes, having substantial resources could be problematic.
If you cannot qualify for Medicaid, and no other insurance will cover the nursing home care costs, you are left with no other option than to spend your own money and/or assets to cover the nursing home care costs. Once you have liquidated your funds and assets, Medicaid will consider your resource list low enough to begin providing coverage for nursing home care costs. Don’t fall victim to this. Medicaid advanced planning can protect you and your family from financial tragedy.
Medicaid planning is all about getting Medicaid to pay your bills sooner rather than later. Strategic transfers of assets can structure ownership of those assets in such a way, they avoid being counted as part of the Medicaid eligibility process. You can transfer your assets to an Irrevocable Trust or make gifts to keep your assets safe and still qualify for Medicaid in a timely manner.
When do I begin Medicaid planning?
The time is NOW.
As we referenced earlier, Medicaid planning may involve transferring assets needing protection into a Trust. Medicaid doesn’t want to provide you with coverage for nursing home care costs after discovering you’ve essentially given away your assets. To try and prevent people from giving away their property as soon as they realize nursing home care is a necessity, Medicaid has a five-year lookback period. That means, when you apply for Medicaid, Medicaid looks at the last five years of your financial history. If you’ve given away money or property (or sold assets for far less than they are worth), Medicaid has the opportunity to temporarily disqualify you from being eligible for benefits – even if you own very few resources on paper.
The disqualification period is determined by dividing the value of assets transferred, by the average monthly nursing home cost. The resulting number is the number of months Medicaid won’t pay for your nursing home care cost. This will result in you having to pay out-of-pocket. If you want to protect the maximum value of your assets, you need to complete the Medicaid planning process at least five years prior to needing nursing home care.
How can Pyke, Presley & Associates, P.C. service my Medicaid planning needs?
The Medicaid planning process can be complicated and overwhelming. That’s why we are here to help. We can direct you and give you guidance on which Trusts would work best for you and how to create them. We can give advice on how to make sure your assets are protected from Medicaid in order to qualify for Medicaid assistance.
Contact Pyke, Presley & Associates, P.C. today at 770-507-2500 or online at www.cpyke.com. We can help. We have a great team with extensive experience offering aid to clients daily. It will be our pleasure to serve you.