Medicaid Planning – Paying for Senior Care

You and your family may have to confront the need for long-term care with limited funds to pay for it. And you may need to seek advice on how to provide for the care of a loved one.

According to the National Care Planning Council (NCPC), a person facing the prospect of long-term care with moderate income and assets may eventually have to rely on Medicaid to pay part or all of the cost of care.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides medical assistance to various low- income individuals, including those who are aged – 65 or older – disabled or blind. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) says that Medicaid “is the single largest payer of nursing home bills in America and is the last resort for people who have no other way to finance their long-term care.”

If you find yourself in a situation that necessitates long-term care planning, it is best to seek the advice of a professional experienced in Medicaid planning, either a Medicaid planning advisor or a qualified elder law attorney Grand Rapids Mi.

“Most families using Medicaid planning have very little assets to begin with,” according to the NCPC. “Most are simply concerned with keeping the house in the family.”

Medicaid planning fits certain circumstances in which families are faced with a crisis and need to preserve assets such as a house or a savings plan. Moreover, Medicaid rules vary from state to state, which furthers the need to talk to a qualified planner or elder law attorney in Florida to assess the range of planning tools that fit your particular situation.

Medicaid planning helps you devise ways of making your assets and income inaccessible. Over the years, attorneys have developed several strategies to rearrange finances and legally shelter assets from the state, explain the AICPA. “These strategies, and the Medicaid rules themselves, can be complicated, especially since the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which significantly tightened restrictions on Medicaid planning.”

So in addition to qualifying for the benefits themselves, Medicaid planning also helps you to shelter your countable assets, preserve those assets for loved ones, and provide for your spouse.

When you begin to wade through the Medicaid paperwork, the task can be overwhelming, and you don’t need one more thing to add to your woes. Seek the assistance of a qualified Medicaid asset protection attorney to help you plan this next phase of your life.