Medicaid lawyers provide help to clients in making certain they are able to take advantage of important Medicaid benefits when they need them. Medicaid is a vitally important program that provides coverage to millions of seniors — including those seniors who are qualified for Medicare. 
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can help you to understand how Medicaid works, why you might need to become eligible for it, and what steps you can take to try to ensure that you can get Medicaid when you need it. You should reach out to our Medicaid lawyers to find out about the assistance that we can offer you. You can also read on to learn about five key things that Medicaid lawyers want you to know. ‘
Medicaid is Not Just for Poor People
One of the biggest misconceptions about Medicaid is that it is only for poor people. Because so many people do not realize that Medicaid could actually be invaluable to them in their own situation, far too many people who could benefit from the creation of a Medicaid plan do not ever end up making one.
You should be aware that many middle class and even wealthy families end up relying on Medicaid to cover essential care costs so they do not waste their entire life savings. You need to talk with an attorney to find out if your wealth is at risk and how you can protect it with a Medicaid plan.
Medicaid Can Subsidize and Supplement Medicare
Seniors often think Medicare will be the only insurance coverage they need, but this isn’t true for most. Medicare has high premiums and coinsurance costs and does not cover many important things such as nursing home care. Medicaid pays for many different things Medicare will not pay for and also helps lower-income seniors to pay Medicare premiums and even Medicare coinsurance expenditures and deductibles, depending upon household income.
Medicaid May Be The Only Way to Pay for a Nursing Home
If you do not qualify for Medicaid and you find you need to go into a nursing home, this could be a big problem. Medicare and private insurance only cover skilled nursing care and most nursing home care is custodial care, which is routine care that doesn’t require any specialized training. This means chances are good that if you have to move to a nursing home, it will not be covered by Medicare or private insurance.
If you don’t want to pay out of pocket, you’ll have to have Medicaid or long-term care insurance. Unfortunately, long-term care insurance is too prohibitively expensive for most people to maintain as a senior and it also could end up not providing the help you need due to coverage limitations that are common with policies. Medicaid may be the best or only source of nursing home payments, so you need to qualify.
Medicaid Planning is Complicated
Making a Medicaid plan can be complicated. You can’t just give assets away because then you might not have the wealth you need to live on. Further, if you transferred assets within five years of the time of trying to qualify for Medicaid — including if you transferred them in a sale for less than full market value — you could be temporarily disqualified from Medicaid.
There are different ways to try to plan depending upon whether you need care right away or have some time. Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can help you put together the Medicaid plan that is right for you.
Medicaid Planning Takes Time
The Medicaid planning process can take time to complete. You should not hesitate to get help or wait until it is too late and you need nursing home care and it becomes much harder to protect your assets.
Getting Help from Medicaid Lawyers
Medicaid lawyers at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates will assist you in making certain that you do not spend all you have worked for on healthcare when Medicaid could help you to pay for essential care services. To find out more about how our legal team can help you with issues related to making a Medicaid plan or understanding why you might need Medicaid to cover you, join us for a free seminar .
You can also give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online to get personalized help making your Medicaid plan so you are prepared in case something happens to you.
Mr. Nirenstein is licensed to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut and the United States District Court. He is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations, and the Estate and Probate, Elder Law, Business Law and Real Estate Sections of the Connecticut Bar Association.
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