A Medicaid lawyer provides assistance to those who are getting older and who want to make sure they can qualify for Medicaid coverage for long-term care. There are different eligibility rules for different types of Medicaid patients, and Frank & Kraft will help pre-Medicare seniors, as well as seniors 65-and-older, to understand how Medicaid works, what it covers that Medicare doesn’t, and why qualifying for coverage is so important.
Our legal team will also help to make sure you can get Medicaid coverage if you need it as you get older. This is vital because, while Medicare and most private insurers don’t cover costs of long term care or nursing care in most situations, Medicaid can cover this care if you require it. Medicaid could be the only source of nursing home care or long term care costs, other than private pay, so it is a vitally important program for seniors. Medicaid also provides vital healthcare cost coverage for people of all ages who need all different kinds of medical assistance.
Soon, however, Medicaid could end up covering far fewer people in Indiana than it currently does, which could result in substantial financial savings. Indiana Public Media explained proposals to change Medicaid to cut the number of beneficiaries and to reduce costs of Medicaid by tens of millions of dollars.
Work Requirement For Medicaid Considered in Indianapolis
According to Indiana Public Media, Indiana released plans to include a work requirement in its Medicaid program in mid-May. The Medicaid program that would be changed is the Healthy Indiana Plan, which would become HIP 2.0. Former Governor Mike Pence first launched the Healthy Indiana plan in 2015. The plan originally included waivers from the federal government that gave the state of Indiana the right to impose requirements on Medicaid users that deviated from the normal guidelines for Medicaid qualification.
Now, Indiana lawmakers are proposing changes to the original waiver, including the implementation of a work requirement. Indiana wants to restrict Medicaid coverage for certain otherwise eligible individuals by requiring that members either be working, looking for jobs, studying, or training for work in order to continue receiving benefits. Those Medicaid members who are subject to the work requirement would have their benefits suspended if they did not comply with the mandates.
In the past, several states have already sought waivers so they could include work requirements in their Medicaid programs. Although waivers were not previously granted, the new administration under President Trump has expressed a willingness to consider these proposals and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has indicated it may be willing to provide approval to states that want to implement work requirements.
Indiana is also looking to change the Healthy Indiana plan in other ways as well, including changing the ways in which monthly bills are calculated for members as well as altering the reimbursement rates that are currently paid to providers who provide treatment for addictions.
Indiana Public Media indicates that some experts, including at the Kaiser Family Foundation, believe that implementing these new work requirements could cause some current Medicaid members to be at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage “through no fault of their own.” The projections that are made by the state of Indiana show that some people would, in fact, lose coverage if changes are implemented. Those who are opposed to adding the work requirement also indicate that the administrative costs of operating the state’s Medicaid program could be increased by the new mandate since the state would now have to monitor whether Medicaid beneficiaries who are subject to the new work requirement are fulfilling it and performing mandatory work.
Getting Help from An Indianapolis Medicaid Lawyer
An Indianapolis Medicaid lawyer at Frank & Kraft can offer assistance in understanding exactly what the rules are for qualifying for Medicaid based on your age, income level, assets and the kind of care that you hope Medicaid will pay for.
We can assist you in determining if you will qualify for Medicaid when you need it, and we can help if you wouldn’t qualify soon enough to get care costs covered ASAP. By making an appropriate Medicaid plan, you can make certain you protect your wealth and qualify for Medicaid to pay for your care when you need it.
To find out more about what is involved in Medicaid and why planning ahead to qualify to get Medicaid to cover you can be so important, join us for a free seminar. If you are ready to make your personalized Medicaid plan, give us a call at 317-684-1100 or contact us online today.
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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