Medicaid planning is a process everyone should do when they are still fairly young, if they have assets to protect or concerns about future nursing home costs. The sooner you are able to begin Medicaid planning, the more peace of mind you will have in knowing that you aren’t going to lose an entire life savings just because you have the misfortune of requiring care in a nursing home setting.
Frank & Kraft provides assistance with the Medicaid planning process along with the use of our FREE Medicaid/Long-Term Care Calculator. We can offer help whether you worry about nursing home costs in the future, have been diagnosed with a condition that will lead to an imminent need for nursing care, or have a family member going into a nursing home soon. Give our Indianapolis Medicaid planning lawyers a call today to learn more about the assistance we can provide that is tailored to your needs and to get answers to questions including:
- When do you need Medicaid planning?
- What does an Indianapolis Medicaid planning lawyer do?
- How can a Medicaid planning lawyer help?
When Do You need Medicaid Planning?
Medicaid planning is necessary for virtually everyone, because almost anyone could require nursing home care at some point in the future. Most people who go into a nursing home need custodial care, or routine assistance with normal daily living activities. This kind of care isn’t covered by private insurers or by Medicare. It has to be paid for out-of-pocket, unless you have Medicaid. Medicaid will pay for a nursing home.
Medicaid, however, is available only when your income is very low and you have limited resources or no resources. If you have property, money, and assets, you’re probably going to be disqualified from getting Medicaid coverage. This means if you have to go into a nursing home, you have to start paying the bills yourself. You will need to take cash out of bank accounts, and possibly even sell property and assets.
A nursing home costs thousands of dollars a month. You’ll likely spend your savings quickly, and will eventually qualify for Medicaid after selling property and using up all of your resources. Sadly, this will leave you with no legacy to provide for your family after you are gone. This can be avoided by taking steps to structure ownership of assets so you aren’t disqualified from Medicaid coverage.
Medicaid planning involves the transfer of assets, so it has to take place at least five years before nursing home care is needed if you want to protect all you own. This is because Medicaid looks back five years from the time you try to get nursing home care and imposes a period of disqualification if assets were transferred during that time.
What Does an Indianapolis Medicaid Planning Lawyer Do?
A Medicaid planning lawyers makes it possible for you to prevent your assets from counting when determining if you’re eligible to get Medicaid to pay for a nursing home. If you can use trusts and make strategic assets transfers, your assets will not count as resources. You can leave your money and property to people who you care about instead of spending it all on a nursing home. As soon as you require nursing home care, you should be eligible for Medicaid – provided you planned properly.
A Medicaid planning lawyer can also provide important assistance in other ways as well. For example, Frank & Katz can help you if:
- You want to give a financial gift to a friend or relative with special needs who is receiving Medicaid. An attorney can help use a special needs trust to allow you to provide for a child or loved one who has a disability, without jeopardizing access to means-tested benefits.
- You have a spouse or parent who is going into a nursing home and you want to protect as many assets as possible.
- You are concerned about Medicaid estate recovery, which is the process by which the state tries to recoup Medicaid costs from an estate after someone dies who has received Medicaid benefits during his life.
Frank & Kraft knows the laws when it comes to protecting assets from Medicaid and we help you to make full use of all legal tools to protect your money and property.
How Can a Medicaid Planning Lawyer Help?
Frank & Kraft provides invaluable assistance with the creation of a Medicaid plan and with the protection of assets when nursing home care is needed. Give us a call today at (317) 684-1100 or contact us online to learn more about the help we can offer.
