Listen to Lawrence…Community Medicaid Questions Answered

Dear clients and friends,

Here are a few more of your questions and my responses:

QUESTION ONE:
We met with Lawrence in November 2016 and created an Irrevocable Trust. My husband is seriously disabled and we have been using our long term care insurance to pay for caregivers for the past five years. We would like to know if we are now eligible for Community Medicaid since our insurance is about to expire? If yes, how difficult is this process? What is the first step? Thank you!

ANSWER:
I frequently recommend the purchase of long term care insurance to my clients. These policies typically pay for care between 3 to 5 years, although there are higher and lower variations available. But even these lengths of policies may not be enough.

If you run out of insurance, you may want to turn to Medicaid to pay for your long term care and this planning should be done as soon as possible. You may very well be eligible now or can be made so quickly. We make the process as easy as possible for you but it is rather paper intensive. We will get you through it. The first step is to call us so we can explain what information we will need and the timeline.

QUESTION TWO:
A question for Lawrence- I am currently receiving Community Medicaid and have to re-certify for it every year -my next renewal date is July 2020- do I grandfather in the old look back period of 3 months or does the 2 1/2 year rule hold true for anybody renewing?

ANSWER:
You will see no change. The new 2 1/2 year look back for Community Medicaid applies only to new applications received on or after October 1st 2020.

QUESTION THREE:
Your recent answer confused me, what do you mean by start your 2 1/2 year look back now to receive Community Homecare if you need it? Is this part of a trust already in place for more than 5 years?

ANSWER:
Any transfer of assets you make will be caught in a look back, being 5 years for a nursing home and 2 1/2 years for home care (starting Oct 1st). The look backs run at the same time, both starting at the time you make a transfer. For example, if you created and funded an Irrevocable Trust, the assets in the trust will be protected from home care Medicaid after 2 1/2 years and then from nursing home Medicaid after 5 years. In your case, since your trust has been funded for more than five years, the assets in your trust are now protected from a nursing home and home care.

I hope this helps.

Please pass this information to your family and friends and continue to keep your questions coming! If you are thinking about it, others are probably thinking about it too, so my answers will no doubt help you and many others. Let’s stay connected.

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE!

BE SAFE!