DeLaney Law Offices, Ltd.

A simple but good question. There are two components of Medicaid Planning. The first is to select the best care; It's imperative that the quality of life and quality of care of the elder always comes first.  Once a good care plan is established, the second hurdle is protecting the assets for the elder.  

Many people believe that 100% of the assets must be used to pay for care, but this is simply untrue.  There are many exceptions to this rule.  The following questions and answers should assist you in addressing these issues with your Elder Law attorney. 

It's a fact that 24% of 65 year olds are expected to spend a year or more in a nursing home, while 19% will spend less than a year in a nursing home. That means that for over 53% of 65 year olds, nursing home care really is a risk.

In Chicagoland, typical nursing home care costs $6,000 per month or over $72,000 per year.

Unfortunately, no. Medicare only covers up to 100 days of skilled nursing facility care if the elder meets certain requirements. These requirements include:

* The elder must have moved to the nursing home within 30 days of a hospital discharge;

* The hospital stay must have lasted at least three nights;

* The elder must receive a skilled level of care.

Medicare pays entirely for the first 20 days and for 21 days though 100, everything above a co-payment of $105.00 a day.

The co-payment is generally covered by Medicare supplemental insurance. Despite such coverage, the average Medicare patient in a nursing home receives little over 20 days of Medicare coverage. Very often, without fully understanding the documents they sign, the patient or family waive their rights to Medicare coverage by signing documents provided to them by the nursing home.

The majority of nursing home residents (47%) have their care paid for by Medicaid. Although a program initiated for impoverished individuals, Medicaid has become the long term care coverage for middle class Americans.

It is possible for you to keep your home, or at least keep your home in the family and simultaneously qualify for Medicaid coverage. Generally however, if the home is in your probate estate at the end of your life, the state may have the right to recover whatever it has spent on your care.

This may be avoidable with Medicaid Planning. 

Newly proposed regulations are not in favour of gifts if they are given within 5 years of applying for Medicaid benefits.  

There are however, exceptions to these rules, which may apply in your case.

Yes, in many circumstances, the nursing home will apply for Medicaid on behalf of a resident who has depleted all assets and now has no other method of payment. Keep in mind however, that the nursing home has no interest in helping you preserve your assets, nor does the nursing home know the intricacies of the law that allow you to preserve some of your assets. 

The nursing home also may not be able to advise you on when (or how) to appeal a denial.  Applications for Medicaid require extensive documentation and can be extremely time-consuming. If your application is denied, the nursing home will still hold the you and /or your family accountable for the costs incurred during the period of denial. 

Working with an Elder Law attorney can alleviate much of the headache involving the Medicaid application process.  At DeLaney Law Offices, Ltd, we endeavour to preserve as much of your estate as legally possible, and qualify you or your loved one for medical benefits as soon as possible.

No. For the purpose of tax,  you may give away as much as you wish. If you give away in excess of $13,000 per year however you must file a gift tax return (Form 709).  The filing of this return will not usually cause you to incur tax liability, but it is legally required.  The filing will also protect your gift recipient from any allegations by the IRS that the gift your children received was taxable income to them.  Taxes are only due on gifts if they total in excess of $1 million over your lifetime. 

The tax laws, however, do not pertain to Medicaid laws.  Therefore, giving gifts when you may need Medicaid in the future, must be carefully considered.  It is very important to bare in mind that the laws regarding gifting for tax purposes and Medicaid purposes differ considerably and have nothing to do with each other. Your attorney will assist in taking both types of laws into consideration when formulating the appropriate plan for you. 

It can. Although the best planning usually takes place well in advance of nursing home admissions there are still opportunities even after the admission process.  

For example, if you are healthy and can afford it, long term care insurance is your first line of defense to the catastrophic financial losses of nursing home care. There are numerous ways to make long term care insurance affordable. DeLaney Law Offices Ltd does not sell insurance or annuity products; this, therefore, allows us to review a policy you may be interested in purchasing and give you an unbiased opinion as to the policy's true worth.

You cannot be certain if you or your loved one will require long-term nursing home care. However, statistics indicate one in four will spend at least one year in a nursing home. Medicare will not pay these long-term costs, which leaves you with three choices: Long-term care insurance, your savings, and Medicaid. Here at DeLaney Law Offices Ltd, we can help you make sense of the governmental programs which can best help you and your family pay for care.  

Please call us at 708-675-7144 (extension 1) to make an appointment.