The same scenario plays itself out over and over again in America. An elderly person needs help with care and prefers to stay at home. The best care can often come from someone who is emotionally involved with the senior and they turn to children or grandchildren to provide the care. Sometimes the parent needs […]
Free Medicaid Download: 2014 Spousal Impoverishment Desk Reference
January 9, 2014 by
CMS Releases New 2014 Medicaid Numbers The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the new annual spousal impoverishment figures for 2014. The full numbers are contained in the 2014 Medicaid Spousal Impoverishment Desk Reference, which you can download for free by clicking the link at the bottom of this article. Here is […]
Gifting Away Assets
January 9, 2014 by
Gifting away assets can cause serious problems when attempting to qualify for long-term care Medicaid. The punitive Medicaid asset transfer rules are one of the harshest and cruelest rules ever imposed by the government against its ailing seniors. An improper transfer can cause serious penalties that can leave a patient’s family scrambling to figure out […]
Medicaid Annuities: “Friendly” versus “Compliant” Do you Know the Difference?
November 10, 2013 by
Somehow over the years the terms Medicaid Friendly Annuity and Medicaid Compliant Annuity have entered the planning lexicon. Most advisors without much background in this work use them interchangeably – but they really have different meanings. If you are not aware of the difference or why you should never use the term Medicaid Friendly Annuity, I encourage you […]
Living Trusts can Cause the Home to be a Countable Asset for Medicaid Planning
September 20, 2013 by
Most people do not know how the revocable living trust interplays with Medicaid rules for long-term care medical assistance eligibility. The living trust can cause major problems. Every advisor who recommends a trust or does estate planning should understand how the living trust affects the Medicaid spenddown. We all love the Revocable Living Trust (RLT), […]
DOMA Repeal Expands Medicaid Planning Options and Disparities
July 14, 2013 by
The good news for same-sex couples is that the rulings handed down on June 26, 2013 by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will expand the definition of spouse for Medicaid purposes to include a same-sex spouse. The opinion resulted in repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (known as “DOMA”) as it […]
