Through our [email protected] email service, we frequently receive letters families who are struggling with the expensive costs of nursing home or assisted living. These families are dealing with obstacles in obtaining Medicaid eligibility for their loved ones who are are needing long-term care. Below are a couple letters that we recently received. We hope these letters will help you better understand the Medicaid qualification process and the need to consult an experienced elder law attorney to protect your family’s assets from the nursing home.
Issues with Trusts and Medicaid Eligibility
Dear Asset Protection Guy,
My parents executed a trust in 2002 with an attorney who said it would protect their assets from the nursing home. My mother has dementia and has to go into the nursing home. And now the Medicaid case worker says that my parents’ trust doesn’t protect their assets. They spent thousands of dollars on this trust only to find out that it doesn’t work. Can you help?
Sincerely,
Dazed in Georgia
Dazed in Georgia, we can certainly help! There are some things we need to discuss — some exempt assets and things of that nature. As far as the trust is concerned, the laws regarding this changed in 2006. So the trust may have qualified prior to 2006. But because the laws changed in 2006, those assets in the trust are now counted.
The good news is that there are exceptions and exemptions to the rules in place for asset protection with a trust. So we can use these exceptions to protect your family’s assets while they are in nursing home care. Please contact us at [email protected] and we will send you some information specific to your situation.
We have some easy-to-read pamphlets, fliers, and other information regarding nursing home expenses, a roadmap for your heirs, and asset protection against long-term care facilities. We’ll be glad to send those to you if you contact us via email. So we can definitely help, but we’re limited by time so you’ll need to contact us as quickly as possible.
Properties and Assets Affecting Medicaid Eligibility
Dear Asset Protection Guy,
My father was denied Medicaid because we can’t sell his run down commercial property; the property is appraised at $30,000. The property has been listed with a real estate broker for two years but he hasn’t received a single offer. The Medicaid case worker won’t approve my father’s application because of this property. Other than his house, my father has no other property. All he gets is social security which is approximately $1,200 per month. My father is currently in a local nursing home and he owes almost two months or close to $16,000. We have offered the property to the nursing home, but this was rejected. My mother is worried sick over the nursing home bill. Our family needs your help.
Sincerely,
Small Town Desperation
Small Town Desperation, we’ll be happy to help. You’ll just need to call us or email us at [email protected]. It appears that the Medicaid case worker is not following their own rules in this situation.
We’ll make sure the Medicaid case worker is adhering to the laws and guidelines in place. We can get your dad qualified for Medicaid benefits to pay for his long-term care, but you need to call us. There is a time period in consideration where Medicaid will pay the owed nursing home expenses. And since you have this outstanding bill, you need to contact us as soon as possible so we can get this resolved in a timely manner.
Contact Us for More Information About Your Specific Case
If you have additional questions about asset protection and Medicaid eligibility for your loved ones, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can send an email to [email protected] or complete this form here.
If you’d like to see this blog in video format, you can watch it below. Please be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell so you are notified each time we release a new video.