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Of coursethe ability to even qualify for medicaid hinges on what i warned about above. If the house was put in a revocable trust of any kind then those dollars count towards qualifying .
That can cost you big dollars as you have to spend down to meet the requirementts.
To many folks mistakenly think if they use a trust for the house they are doing medicaid planning with revocable trusts. It is just the opposite as laws help qualify when held in personal name only .
to qualify for medicaid it is both asset and income based . i know there is no way that difference in ss income between early and delaying would support me in a home and my wife at home any better .
it is to small of a difference relative to costs .
Also, the suggestion to pursue veteran's widow benefits is a good one.
Mom was a veteran's widow and we didn't know at the time about this benefit. BiscuitPop and I are going thru the process now of getting his mom set up for veteran's widow benefits. They pay approx $1100 a month toward assisted living / nursing home costs. However, the process is long and tedious. We began doing the paperwork more than a year ago; his mom is not yet (but soon will be) in an assisted-living center and we have fingers crossed that all the paperwork is done.
We are putting his mom's home up for sale. In today's market, it will likely bring 60K-70K. Not nearly as much as we'd like, but that will pay for a year of dementia care, where we live. And maybe by then, the VA widow benefit will kick in. Add that to her SS and we're good for a few years, without having to resort to Medicaid (which as some have said, is dead in the water anyway).
Did you use your local Veteran's Service Officer to help you with the process? We went through the local office here to get my MIL on the VA Aid and Assistance and it took about 2 months. SHe only had moderate level dementia, but needed assisted living.
Did you use your local Veteran's Service Officer to help you with the process? We went through the local office here to get my MIL on the VA Aid and Assistance and it took about 2 months. SHe only had moderate level dementia, but needed assisted living.
He answered a few questions and made some helpful suggestions but DH did the lion's share of the research and work. One suggestion the local rep made was to complete as much paperwork as possible and file the application before she became medically eligible. We did that a year or so before she became eligible, i.e. failed the minimum ADLs. Once that happened all we had to do was submit the doctor's paper. She was on in-home care and we rec'd benefits after only a short delay.
When she deteriorated and we moved her into an ALC, it took about 11 months to get her up to the higher benefit. That was because of poor timing, the A&A program was transitioning to the new standards. The good news with A&A is that once approved all benefits are retroactive so we rec'd a lump sum check covering the 11 months we waited.
You're kidding right? They're the people that draw up wills, POA, medical POA, living trusts etc. You surely didn't just think you could draw that up on a napkin in your kitchen?
You're kind of wrong. At least where I live (in Florida). Estate planning lawyers are the people who draw up wills and similar documents. Elder care lawyers are the people who specialize in drawing up documents so you can qualify for public assistance - namely Medicaid - if you need to go into a skilled nursing facility. The most important thing to look into beforehand IMO is inquiring into the local facilities where you live that accept Medicaid patients/have any Medicaid beds. And how many do they have? And what are the facility rules regarding Medicaid patients (there are usually at least a few)? The trend these days is for fewer and fewer facilities to accept Medicaid patients. And those that accept Medicaid patients usually aren't the best in town (and are often the worst). Although this can of course vary from place to place. Robyn
You can have a home worth $505,000 and still qualify for Medicaid.
Talk to someone at your county's office for elderly and disabled.
I have read that, too. But, I have always wondered how they, or their spouse, can pay the property taxes on a house worth that much while on Medicaid.
My former condo was only worth $160,000 and the property taxes were $4,500. If someone's house was worth over three times that amount where would the $13,500 or $14,000 a year in property tax come from? Who would pay it if the person was in a nursing home on Medicaid?
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