| |
The most common mistake people make is thinking Medicaid is easy and they don't need help. Some very smart judges have examined the Medicaid program and they have found that it's so complex that its almost impossible to understand unless you're an expert. (Click HERE to see what the Courts have said). If you care what happens to your property when you apply for Medicaid, or if you've been denied Medicaid and you don't know why, then it's probably worth paying a professional for help.
The next most common mistake is listening to rumor and myth in the community. Keep in mind that most people don't understand Medicaid (see above) so they probably don't know what they are talking about. You must also keep in mind that the rules change over time and they are different in every State. So if you are listening to someone who claims his or her parents received Medicaid 5 years ago, then you should know the rules have changed radically since then. If you are talking to someone in Tennessee and you live in Georgia, then you should know the rules are not the same.
The third most common mistake is linked to the first two - it is misunderstanding the purpose of the planning and mistaken priorities. The primary planning goal should be to protect the family, focusing first on the person in need and then on his or her dependents. This means that if Mom or Dad need help, then getting the right help at the right time for Mom or Dad is the highest priority. Medicaid is simply a tool we use to do that. Keep in mind that, important as Medicaid is, it is a subsistence benefit so anything we protect while we seek Medicaid should be used to enhance Mom or Dad's quality of life (prison inmates actually get more benefits than Medicaid recipients). If there is a healthier spouse still living at home (or using home health care or in assisted living or anywhere other than a nursing home), then protecting income and resources for the benefit of that person is also a high priority. Shifting the cost of nursing home care to Medicaid protects additional resources that can be used to purchase home health care or assisted living care (or food, shelter, utilities and other necessities) for the spouse who is not in the nursing home. If there is a disabled chld, then after we protect Mom and Dad, we should look at ways to protect that member of the family. Finally, if a member of the family has served as caregiver, then that person should be taken care of since he or she likely sacrificed income, work benefits, retirement savings, time with family and quite possibly his or her good health while serving as caregiver. In our humble opinion, we should not focus on protecting anyone's inheritance until we have protected those who can't protect themselves. After these priorities are addressed, then other planning is appropriate.
Failing to understand the concepts above leads to the next most common mistake - applying too early or too late. If you apply too early, then you may lose valuable protections that apply under limited circumstances. If you apply too late, then you have spent resources unnecessarily and you won't be able to get them back. If you retain a professional, then you should be able to apply at the right time.
The next most common mistake is giving up. It is never too late to plan (we can almost always do something to improve your situation). Waiting may take some options off the table, so enourage you to plan earlier. Still, if you have waited, but it does not mean all hope is gone. With that in mind, if you have waited, get help now. We can usually do something even if an older adult is already in a nursing home.
Planning without help can get you in trouble. Most home-made Medicaid plans usually involve gifting. Be mindful that giving away your stuff can cause more problems than it solves. First, you have to report the gift when you apply for Medicaid or you can go to JAIL! Next, Medicaid imposes a penalty when you make gifts and those penalties can actually cost you more than the value of the gift. We always look for other options first and, if gifts are to be made, then they should be carefully planned. Next, in addition to triggering a Medicaid penalty, a haphazard gift can result in higher taxes or the loss of tax exemptions and can create other issues where you least expect them (e.g., you try to give assets to your children, but doing that causes your grandchildren to lose financial assistance paying for college). Next, if you do things the wrong way, you can get sued. (Click HERE to read about one family's disaster).
Finally, if you fail to plan, you might not take advantage of protections available for those you love. There are ways to protect the healthier spouse of someone who goes into a nursing home. There are ways to protect the disabled child of someone who goes into a nursing home. If someone is serving as caregiver before an older adult goes into a nursing home, then we can protect the caregiver so he or she doesn't have to worry about financial issues in addition to other caregiver stress. Many of the strategies available to protect your loved ones require planning and expert assistance so we suggest that you get help.
Call us at (706) 428-0888
Email: david@mcguffey.net
| |
