Long-Term Care Medicaid Planning

Long-Term Care Medicaid Planning

(And Why It's Important)

You might not think long-term care Medicaid is essential, but when life happens
(and it happens fast), you'll wish you had a plan in place so you could concentrate
on your loved one not to pay for their care. I know because I help numerous clients
every month navigate the murky waters of Medicaid, home care, nursing homes,
and unaffordable medical bills.

 

I know firsthand how scary it can be, how overwhelmed my clients get, and how
easily I can help take the burden off their shoulders by helping them get the aid
they not only need but deserve.

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A Classic Example

Let me take a moment to share with you the story of a couple I helped recently.
The situation Tom and Carol experienced is common, and in their case, I could
quickly help them allocate their funds in a Medicaid-compliant way. Carol then became eligible for long-term care Medicaid services. Tom then felt confident Carol's care needs would be covered and he could still afford to retire as planned.

 

I worked with Tom and Carol, who were both in their 60s. Tom still worked, but Carol had early-onset Alzheimer's. Carol was already in a nursing home after having a short hospital stay. When I met Tom, he already knew he would not be able to care for Carol at home.  After a lot of thought, the plan was for her to stay in the nursing home for long-term care.  At this point, Tom, of course, was distraught and wanted only the best care for Carol, but the information he was getting was that he'd have to spend down his 401K to get assistance to pay for care through Medicaid. This was all of Tom and Carol's life savings and what Tom needed to retire.

 

Now he was stuck choosing between his living expenses
for retirement and care for Carol.

 

He was devastated and didn't know what to do. Tom only planned to work a couple of more years—he couldn't possibly save enough to get him through the next 20+ years.

 

The average cost of a nursing home in his state was $9,500 per month. Tom was even told to consider divorce since this might be a way to avoid the spend-down requirements. He didn't know what else to do but this not only didn't set well with him, but a so-called "Medicaid divorce" can lead to legal problems (not to mention it won't solve financial issues.) Medicaid is aware of Medicaid divorce and would investigate to make sure assets were divided fairly, etc. 

 

Instead, I evaluated Tom's financials. We also discussed the assets he wanted to keep because he had items he hoped to hold onto.  These included a tractor he just purchased and a camper. He could keep half of the couple's total combined assets, up to $130,380 and one vehicle in his state. Of course, that alone would not be enough for him to retire in a few years.

 

The Solution

After I completed his plan, Tom was ecstatic. We could re-allocate his funds so that he could have the secure future he wanted. It included keeping the tractor, camper, and his entire 401K account. He could also keep his home and one car (these are allowable assets that are not counted). 

 

The best part of the entire situation is that Carol could stay where she was and get the quality care that Tom wanted her to have. This is what I love to do for people at my company Senior Resource Planning (SRP).

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