Most people will end up spending at least part of their lives in a long term care facility, such as a nursing home, assisted living facility, or independent living facility. These types of care residences are incredibly expensive. A month in a nursing home easily costs over $10,000 in most cases—a sum of money that many people simply cannot afford to pay, month after month. The attorneys at Strategic Counsel Law Group, L.C. works with clients to reduce their assets in order to qualify for Medicaid, which can pay for long term care.
What is Medicaid Planning?
Medicaid planning, sometimes also called long term care planning or funding Medicaid trusts, is the process of moving one’s life savings into a trust in order to qualify for Medicaid, which only allows an individual or couple benefits if their assets are very low. Because long term care, particularly nursing care, is so expensive, even individuals that own their own homes outright often cannot afford this type of care. Medicaid planning is a much better solution than simply spending all of one’s assets on nursing home care up front, and then attempting qualifying when you are broke.
How Does Medicaid Planning Work?
There are two types of Medicaid planning: pre-crisis planning and crisis planning.
- Pre-crisis planning—Because the individual has time to reduce their assets, they have options. One of these options is to fund a five-year-trust, which is an irrevocable trust that allows the individual to shield assets for the future, and also use current assets for their living expenses over the next five years.
- Crisis planning—If an individual suffers a quick loss of health and requires immediate nursing home care, they may have to set up a QIT (qualified income trust) if their income is above a certain threshold. There are certainly downfalls to not planning ahead for long term care. For example, when applying for long term care eligibility, Medicaid “looks back” five years to see if you distributed assets without receiving compensation in return (such as gifting to children). If such uncompensated transfers have been made, you may be ineligible for Medicaid for a certain period of time.
Asset Thresholds for Qualifying for Medicaid in 2022
- The Medicaid applicant cannot own assets worth more than $2,000
- The Medicaid applicant’s well spouse (if they have a spouse who is not applying to receive long term care) cannot own assets greater than $137,400, and cannot have a monthly gross income greater than $2,289.
- The Medicaid applicant cannot own a home with equity greater than $636,000 unless their spouse, child under 21, or blind/disabled child of any age is living in the home.
Our Experienced Medicaid Planning Attorneys Can Help
You should not have to give up your entire life savings to pay for long term care. The lawyers at Strategic Counsel Law Group, L.C. can help you establish various trusts to shield your assets and qualify for Medicaid at the same time. Call our Medicaid planning attorney today at 813-286-1700 to schedule a free consultation.
