Hartford Medicaid lawyers help you to make certain you can qualify for Medicaid if you need to get assistance from this government program. Many people incorrectly assume that they won’t need Medicaid because they think Medicaid is only for lower income people and because they think their medical needs will be covered by Medicare. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily true, as Medicare won’t cover most types of long-term care and there is a significant chance you could need to spend at least some time in a nursing home facility as you get older. 
When you find that you need nursing home care or any type of long-term care, you may be frustrated to learn that Medicare will not pay for your care unless you need skilled nursing services. Most people don’t need skilled care, but instead need custodial care that is only covered by Medicaid. Unfortunately, you may discover that Medicaid is means-tested and that you have too many assets to qualify because you have worked your whole life to build wealth.
If this happens to you, you may be tempted to just give away your wealth to get Medicaid to cover you so you can avoid out-of-pocket costs that could total thousands of dollars monthly for nursing home care. Unfortunately, giving away your wealth is typically not a method to protect your assets if you need to go to a nursing home and, in fact, this could actually trigger a period of disqualification so you are not able to get covered by Medicaid.
You don’t want to put your access to Medicaid benefits at risk, so you should contact Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates as soon as possible to get help from Hartford Medicaid lawyers in creating a Medicaid plan that is right for you.
Can Giving Away Wealth Help you Get Medicaid
Giving away money and property can seem tempting when you don’t want to spend your life savings on a nursing home and when you don’t want to be forced to sell important assets just to afford the costs of care. The problem is, Medicaid will disqualify you temporarily from getting covered if you just make wealth transfers, even in circumstances where you sell property to close family members for less than the fair market value.
Medicaid does not want you to just give assets to loved ones while qualifying for benefits and there are mechanisms in place to try to stop you from doing this. There is something called a five year lookback rule which can cause you tremendous problems if you have given away your wealth to try to get Medicaid benefits.
The five year lookback rule works like this: Medicaid will look at your transactions for the preceding five years when you try to qualify for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care. If you gave away wealth or transferred it at less than fair market value, you’ll face disqualification from Medicaid for a set number of months determined by a specific formula.
The formula used to determine the disqualification period involves dividing the value of assets transferred by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in your area. For example, if you made a transfer of $10,000 worth of assets to your daughter and nursing home care costs $5,000 in your area, you’d be disqualified from Medicaid for two months. The number of months would be determined by dividing $10,000 (the value of transferred assets) by $5,000 (the average monthly nursing home care costs where you live).
You don’t want to jeopardize your ability to get Medicaid for months simply because you made a transfer of assets. There are ways to protect your wealth, including in a crisis when you need Medicaid quickly, but you’ll need to work with an experienced attorney to develop a strategy aimed at protecting as much money and property as possible given the circumstances.
Getting Help from Hartford Medicaid Lawyers
Hartford Medicaid lawyers can assist you in creating a Medicaid plan that will keep as much of your wealth as possible safe from being lost. Typically, the earlier you begin making your Medicaid plan, the easier it will be to keep your wealth safe and secure.
To find out more about how Medicaid planning lawyers at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can assist you in getting your nursing home care and other costly medical care covered by Medicaid — without losing your life savings first — join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online to begin the creation of your personalized Medicaid plan.
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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