If you are in need of Medicaid coverage, you should reach out to Burlington Medicaid attorneys. Many people who become disabled or who are getting older will need Medicaid now or in the future because they will require Medicaid to pay for long-term care or nursing home care at home. 
If you do not qualify for Medicaid, you may have no option but to pay out of your pocket for care in a nursing home or for care provided by home health aides at your home. Both types of care can cost many thousands of dollars every month.
Unfortunately, neither type of care is typically covered by Medicare or any other private insurance coverage, as private policies and Medicare restrict coverage to skilled nursing care and not to the basic routine help most people need when they get old or sick. You don’t want to end up having to spend all of your money and you don’t want to put your wealth at risk if you need to go into a nursing home or get care, so you should work with an attorney for assistance.
Unsworth LaPlante, PLLC can help with the Medicaid planning process. Whether you need nursing home care soon and you want to create a crisis plan to protect as much wealth as possible or whether you are hoping to plan ahead to protect assets in case you need future care, our firm can help you. You should give us a call as soon as possible because if you make an attempt to qualify for Medicaid on your own — such as by simply giving away your wealth — you could jeopardize your access to benefits.
Why You Cannot Give Away Your Wealth to Get Medicaid
If you want your nursing home care to be covered or if you want long-term care at home to be paid for, you will need to qualify for Medicaid. However, Medicaid is means-tested, so having too much wealth could make it impossible for you to qualify. Rather than spending all your money on the costs of a nursing home or the costs of a home health aide when you need one, you may be tempted to just give away your wealth. If you had hoped to pass money and property down to your children, for example, it could seem logical to just give your children your money or your property so you no longer own assets that would disqualify you from getting Medicaid to pay for your nursing home care or long-term care costs.
Unfortunately, if you transfer assets to your children or other loved ones, either by giving away those assets or by selling them at less than the fair market value, this could lead to you becoming disqualified from getting Medicaid for a designated time period. The reason that giving away wealth could result in a loss of access to Medicaid benefits is the Medicaid five year lookback rule.
Under the five year lookback rule, Medicaid reviews five years of financial transactions dating back from the time you apply for benefits. If, during that five year period, you gave away wealth or transferred it for less than it was worth, you will be disqualified from Medicaid eligibility for nursing home care or for home healthcare. The number of months of disqualification can be determined by dividing the value of transferred assets by the average monthly bills for nursing home care in the area where you live. If you gave away $100,000 in assets and a nursing home costs you $10,000 per month in your area, you would be disqualified from being eligible to get Medicaid to cover your nursing home care for a period of 10 months ($100,000 / $10,000).
There are ways to make a Medicaid plan and protect assets without causing disqualification, but you should work with an experienced attorney and often will need to get your plans in place early before you actually need care to protect the maximum value of your assets.
Contact Burlington Medicaid Attorneys
Burlington Medicaid attorneys at our firm can provide the personalized help that you need to make a plan to get Medicaid. We can work within Medicaid’s rules to make sure the steps you take to get Medicaid to cover your nursing home care protect as many of your assets and as much of your wealth as possible without jeopardizing your Medicaid eligibility.
To find out more about the services that our compassionate and knowledgeable legal team can provide to you, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at (802) 879-7133 or contact us online today to get your plans started so you will have the peace of mind of knowing Medicaid will cover your nursing home care while your assets remain safe to serve as your legacy.
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