Long-Term Care/Medicaid: Protecting Assets for the Spouse Who Stays Home

Corey McCool — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 16:14:09 +0000

For many different reasons, people find that their best option is to move into a long-term care facility. There are several different types of facilities. Some of them are for end-of-life care; others are retirement communities. Within those distinctions there are assisted living and independent living communities. All of them have different care options that could be appropriate for different situations. One thing they have in common is that they can be expensive.

Protect Your Assets

70% of senior citizens receive some kind of care. Typically, long term care lasts for an average of three years. In many states, the average cost of nursing home care is close to $100,000 a year. So, if you stay in a care facility for the average amount of time, it could cost you $300,000. Even if you have that amount of money in your savings, you don’t want to spend all of it. That’s especially true if you have a spouse or a loved one who stays home while you’re in long-term care. If you don’t protect your assets, the care facility might attempt to deduct all of those expenses from your assets and your accounts. That would leave your loved ones nothing to live on and no assets for your heirs.

Long-term insurance

Standard health insurance, including Medicare, does not pay for stays in care facilities. For that, you need long-term care (LTC) insurance. Very few seniors have this type of care because it can be expensive. Also, the underwriting standards have become increasingly strenuous. Lastly, the premiums have been rising in recent years. However, if you plan ahead, and apply while you’re healthy, some LTC whole life policies are well worth considering as part of your retirement plan.

But if you’re facing an immediate need for long term care, Medicaid may be your best option. The application process can be challenging, but an elder care attorney will be able to help you qualify through several different methods.

Medicaid

Medicaid is a needs-based program, which means that they have to assess the assets and income of you and your spouse own to determine if you are eligible. This is known as the snapshot date because they take a figurative snapshot of your financial state. So, many senior citizens use their assets to pay off outstanding debts. For example, if you and your spouse have $50,000 saved but medicaid says you can only have $25,000 to qualify for the program, you might spend $25,000 paying off the mortgage on your home. That would put you at the threshold to qualify for medicaid. There are a variety of other options to qualify and this process is sometimes called the “spend down.”

Selling off or transferring ownership of assets is another option, but the five-year look back rule can lead to a penalty, which may jeopardize medicaid eligibility. Moving ownership of assets to your children before filing for Medicaid is especially dangerous and such transfers are carefully scrutinized.

If you have questions about your particular situation, call an elder law attorney. Boise Medicaid attorney Corey McCool, offers a free one hour consultation!

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Why should you get a Power of Attorney?

Corey McCool — Mon, 20 May 2019 21:12:40 +0000

In Idaho, there are two types of Power of Attorney, the Medical Power of Attorney
(MPOA), and the general POA (POA). The MPOA is usually accomplished along with
the Living Will, and it gives the power to the person of your choice to give or deny
consent for medical procedures in the event you are unable to give consent due to a lack
of capacity. The general POA allows the person of your choice to handle your finances
for you, which ranges from paying your electric bill to selling your house. You could
have the same person hold both types of POA, but they really involve two distinct skills.
For the general POA, you want a person who is detail oriented, keeps good records, and
above all is trustworthy. For the MPOA, you want someone who knows what your wishes
are concerning how you want to die, and has the courage to make some tough medical
decisions.

Nominating your POA is Important

It can be important to nominate the person you want to be your MPOA. If you fail to
nominate your MPOA, the State of Idaho will do it for you. This is called surrogate
decision maker. The order of priority is spouse, adult child, parent, and adult sibling. In a
medical crisis, not having a MPOA can work fine as long your family is in agreement,
but if there is disagreement, it can be very expensive and families can be torn apart. Do
your family a great favor by completing both your Living Will and nominating your
MPOA.

What Happens if the Courts Get Involved

Creating a general POA can actually be more important that a MPOA. This is because, in
Idaho, if a person has not nominated a POA, then the only way financial transactions can
be accomplished is by having the Court appoint a Conservator. In the event someone
lacks capacity, maybe they had a stroke or suffer from dementia, their family will not be
able to make necessary financial transactions to apply for government benefits or obtain
long term care until the Court appoints a conservator. This involves a court hearing, can
be expensive and time consuming. This whole process can add unnecessary stress and
tension in the midst of a medical emergency. And so, everyone should do some good life
planning and nominate their general POA and their MPOA while they are still healthy.

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