One prominent portion of elder law is long-term care planning. Much of long-term care planning focuses on your ability to plan for affordable long-term care based on the resources available to you. Long-term care is increasingly expensive and few can afford such costs without having their life’s savings quickly demolished. That is where Medicaid planning comes into play. What exactly is Medicaid planning? That should be one of several questions you ask your Medicaid planning attorney.
What Should You Ask Your Medicaid Planning Attorney
When first meeting with your Medicaid planning attorney, you should plan to ask what exactly Medicaid is and what does it cover. While many people may think they know the answer to these questions, it is best to hear it from a Medicaid planning attorney so that you know your understanding of Medicaid and how it works is accurate.
Medicaid is a federal program that is administered at the state level. It is a needs-based program which means that there are financial eligibility requirements that must be met in order to be approved for the healthcare benefits the program provides. What, then, is Medicaid planning? While you should plan to ask this of your Medicaid planning attorney, the basic answer to this question is employing legal tools and planning techniques to help individuals qualify for Medicaid benefits. With proper planning techniques employed, a person’s countable assets and income can be lowered to meet the threshold requirements for Medicaid qualification.
Before engaging in Medicaid planning, you should also ask why you should actually be doing this. Why Medicaid plan? What are the benefits? Planning ahead for needing Medicaid benefits to cover the large costs of long term care can bring huge value to you and your loved ones. The sooner you engage in Medicaid planning and addressing potential issues that may arise down the road, the better. Medicaid has a look-back period and, during this period, certain asset transfers will likely result in the assessment of penalties.
You should also speak with your attorney about some of the strategies are that may be used in Medicaid planning. While this is a complex area of the law, a basic understanding of what your attorney may do for you and why can be helpful. For instance, your attorney may recommend using a trust in order to remove assets from countable assets for Medicaid calculation purposes.
While it is best to engage in Medicaid planning before you actually need Medicaid benefits to cover the costs of long term care, this is not always possible or does not always happen. In this case, talk to your attorney about the possibility of emergency Medicaid planning. Also referred to as crisis planning, this occurs when a Medicaid attorney helps a client who needs Medicaid benefits within 30 to 60 days. Ask your attorney about crisis planning and what your options may be.
Elder Law Attorney
Monk Law is proud to serve the elder community and their loved ones. Should you have any questions regarding Medicaid planning, we are here with answers. Contact Monk Law Firm today.