Planning for old age? Don’t forget Medicaid

You’re getting older, and one thing you want to start taking care of is your estate plan. One aspect of your estate plan that you may want to talk about with your attorney is Medicaid planning. Medicaid planning helps you prepare your estate in a way that will allow you to leave behind assets for your loved ones while still meeting the qualifications to obtain Medicaid.

Medicaid is government-sponsored health insurance coverage for low-income individuals. You need to qualify based on need. So, if your estate is worth too much or you have too many assets, you may not be able to obtain Medicaid. Instead, you’ll need your own health-insurance coverage or to pay out of pocket for your health care.

How can estate planning help you qualify for Medicaid?

The main way is through reducing the value of your estate and taking assets out of your name before you need Medicaid. For example, if you set up an irrevocable trust for your home, your home will be set up to be passed on to someone else when you pass away, and it will also be taken out of your name. The full value of the property will no longer be included when calculating your assets. Similarly, if you have a large amount of money in your bank accounts, you could add those funds to a trust or pass the money on to relatives to help reduce the value of your estate.

You need to do this carefully, so you will need to discuss the specific rules that apply and that will still allow you to qualify for Medicaid. If you transfer assets too closely to when you apply, you could be hindered by a look-back period, which is something your attorney will work to help you avoid.

Archives

To Our Valuable Clients:


The federal government has recently enacted legislation to assist citizens and businesses facing uncertain financial challenges due to COVID-19. We are here to help answer questions and guide you through the details of the various processes to procure financial assistance from our government. The acts are very new and more will probably be coming. But they currently provide for dollar for dollar tax credits for payroll for COVID19 related payroll, cash advances and loans that have tremendously favorable terms and in some cases, total forgiveness of the debt.

Please stay as safe as possible during this terrible crisis and if we can help you with questions about the new federal assistance laws, please contact us.

We Can Tailor A Solution To Meet Your Needs.


  • Fields marked with an * are required
  • Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Fields marked with an * are required
  • Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.