Medicaid Planning

[magic mouse]

What is everyone experiences with Medicaid Planning? Were at friends yesterday (there in their late 50's) who said they are going to sell their house and start setting aside money for their children, grandchildren now before they even get sick and need nursing home care.

 

[cjhentschel]

i work in a nursing home and work with medicaid.. if you have questions let me know.. Maybe i can help but each state has different qualifications.

 

[trip]

I think the "look back" period in the state that my Dad lived in was 7 years. Not sure if that varies from state to state.

 

[magic mouse]

I think the look back period in most states are 7 years? They why they are selling their house now when they are both healthy and are starting to "give" their money to their family and putting other assests under their mattress sort of speak.

 

[DawnCt1]

I have a serious problem with those who will deliberately impoverish themselves so they can rely upon the taxpayer to take care of them. I find it abhorant. "Medicare planning" should be "save your money and pay your own way or buy insurance to cover it. They are doing this in their 50's!?

 

[RitaE]

If they have money perhaps they should consider purchasing Long Term Care insurance policies ....

 

[barkley]

i supervised a medicaid unit and i saw far too many people who needed it desparatly find that what they thought was correct pre-planning on their part in actuality make them ineligible whereas if they had left things the way the were they would have been totaly eligible.

best bet is for a person to go to a attorney who SPECIALIZES in elderlaw and MEDICAID planning. they know the regulations and can give the best advise. with any lawyer who does'nt specialize in it you run the risk of them setting up stuff so that you will NEVER be eligible (i saw irrevocable trusts that were set up wrong and made people ineligible FOR LIFE).

the medicaid laws are very liberal despite public opinion to the contrary-one of the classes myself and my staff took (and this was 15 years ago so adjust up for inflation) was titled (realy-i'm not kidding) "how a couple with one million dollars in assetts can be eligible to medicaid" 8 hours of training in all the different types of assetts a person can have that have to exempted, have to be allocated in certain ways for one spouse, in certain ways for the other, stuff you could only count a certain percentage of....it's an insanely complicated program.

BUT-it's the only "public assistance" program i ever administered where the regulations said that the job of the eligibility worker was to FIND eligibility for an applicant (we honestly had to tell people how to move and shift asetts within the laws in order to create eligibility).

 

[ajk912]

I have a serious problem with those who will deliberately impoverish themselves so they can rely upon the taxpayer to take care of them. I find it abhorant. "Medicare planning" should be "save your money and pay your own way or buy insurance to cover it. They are doing this in their 50's!?

Darn rules. Darn sticky. We could have had an interesting debate on this topic. <zipping lips..err..keyboard now>

 

[magic mouse]

Lots of people use Medicaid planning....................... We can disagree on the subject.

 

[tar heel]

Just b/c lots of people do something doesn't mean it's right. I agree totally with Dawn (Did I really say that -- no political threads makes strange allies . . .).

 

[CPT Tripss]

I have a serious problem with those who will deliberately impoverish themselves so they can rely upon the taxpayer to take care of them. I find it abhorant. "Medicare planning" should be "save your money and pay your own way or buy insurance to cover it. They are doing this in their 50's!?

If they have money perhaps they should consider purchasing Long Term Care insurance policies ....

If you have enough that you need to game the sytem, I don't have sympathy when things go wrong, like: "But, but, but my kids said they would help me out if I gave them the money, now I need a new car and can't afford it." Could happen ya know.

Say, just out of curiousity, what's their monthly income? And where do they plan to live?

 

[allison443]

What is everyone experiences with Medicaid Planning? Were at friends yesterday (there in their late 50's) who said they are going to sell their house and start setting aside money for their children, grandchildren now before they even get sick and need nursing home care.

So are they looking forward to living in a nursing home as a Medicaid patient? Is that really such a great situation to be in? This is a sincere question.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

If they have money perhaps they should consider purchasing Long Term Care insurance policies ....

*this*

From what I understand, it doesn't cost very much especially if they are presently healthy.

I find what they are doing to be pretty dumb and likely they will get the value of the care that they paid for. Which is not very good.

What will their income be? Will they be dependent upon SS or do they have pensions or retirement plans?

And why medicaid--shouldn't they at some point qualify for medicare? Medicaid is for the poor. Which they clearly are not. (until they make themselves that way).

I'd have to offer my parents proper advice and not participate in a sham.

Since these are your neighbors, I wouldn't be volunteering unethical information.

 

[golfgal]

If they have money perhaps they should consider purchasing Long Term Care insurance policies ....

I agree. This can easily solve the problem if they qualify for the plan--just MAKE SURE you get one from a GOOD company. There have been a lot of lawsuits from companies underpricing their Long Term Care and then not paying claims.

Some states are considering charging children for their parent's care so even with a look-back, that may change by the time they need care.

Our annual premiums for our long term care are about what a month of care will cost in our area-a bargain if you ask me. Even if we pay premiums for 30 years that is still only about 3 years of care.

 

[CPT Tripss]

MediCARE does not pay for long-term care. MediCAID does. CARE has no financial eligibility requirements (aka, no means test). CAID has income and resourses tests (they vary from state to state) and you need to be pretty poor.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I have a serious problem with those who will deliberately impoverish themselves so they can rely upon the taxpayer to take care of them. I find it abhorant. "Medicare planning" should be "save your money and pay your own way or buy insurance to cover it. They are doing this in their 50's!?

Agreed. Disgusts me...

 

[Nik's Mom]

I have a serious problem with those who will deliberately impoverish themselves so they can rely upon the taxpayer to take care of them. I find it abhorant. "Medicare planning" should be "save your money and pay your own way or buy insurance to cover it. They are doing this in their 50's!?

I can't believe what I'm about to say, but I agree with DawnCt!

 

[yoopermom]

(Here's another agreer with Dawn)

Example: my in-laws found a reputable attorney, and, although very much working-class poor, have things fairly well settled "in their minds" for when the time comes. On paper, they're "poor".

My parents decided early to buy LTC insurance. They had better incomes at the time, and so could afford it, plus qualified for it (which I understand some people do not, depending on preexisting conditions). They didn't want my brother or myself to go through...well...what I'm eventually going to have to go through with my in-laws.

So I'd advise them to see a good lawyer AND a good LTC salesperson. Couldn't hurt.

Terri

 

[cjhentschel]

Being poor doesn't mean anything for having Medicaid. Yes the reason you go Medicaid is because you have no money left but that doesn't mean you are poor. No one in this day and age has any money let alone when you get older have any money set aside. You could have all the money in the world and then spend it in a nursing home and then have to go on Medicaid. So what. Alot of people including the elderly are on Medicaid whether in the community or in a nursing home. It just means you need help with your healthcare and costs.

And just because you buy a long term care insurance does not mean it covers everything. Just like an insurance premium you have - you have to really read the fine print. Yeah some are better than others but that doesnt mean it covers everything. I have yet to see one that does. I mean yes its a good investment if you can afford it for now but eventually no its not. I try to tell people just read the fine print on everything. Just because it looks good doesnt mean it is. Always compare plans.

For my parents (my dad is retiring soon) i have already told them - Use Medicare - everyone takes it - no referrals no nothing. Just get a secondary in which they have AARP which is usually good. Right now they have PC - which has copays. I should know - I have it too. But in different situations those copays are high and some are low. Hence why I say use Medicare.

But anyway -- its not up to anyone but the people making the decisions. They have to make the smartest decision they feel they can make at that time and thats it. Good Luck.

 

[jt'smom]

What is everyone experiences with Medicaid Planning? Were at friends yesterday (there in their late 50's) who said they are going to sell their house and start setting aside money for their children, grandchildren now before they even get sick and need nursing home care.

this is an attitude i don't get. why should taxpayer dollars go to take care of someone who dumps their assets, so that they don't get used up for their own care??? whatever happened to people being responsible for themselves? the expense of long term care is a growing issue, and while i appreciate parents not wanting to burden their adult kids, why should society foot the bill for someone who has at least some capability for contributing for their own expenses. as the baby boomers age and if they all did this, the next generation will never have the opportunity to achieve any sort of "american dream" because they will be paying out the nose in taxes to fund all of this "free" long term care!!! sorry, i'll get off my soapbox now, but this just chaps my hide!