Crisis Medicaid Planning

Our crisis medicaid planning services can help you manage the financial aspects when confronted with  imminent long-term care needs.

Crisis Medicaid planning refers to strategic planning for people who anticipate an immediate or near immediate need to apply for Medicaid benefits.

Why contact a lawyer? When you’re faced with an urgent need is no time to start learning how to successfully apply for benefits. The process is somewhat complicated, and if not done properly it may take you quite some time to start receiving benefits. A lawyer can guide you through the process to expedite your ability to get Medicaid healthcare benefits.

What Does Crisis Medicaid Planning Do?

Crisis Medicaid Planning helps to cut through the red tape and help you get the assistance you need to pay for long-term care.

A growing number of elderly people need help paying for care in a nursing home. Unfortunately, the cost for these services is very high, and often seemingly impossible for the average family to afford.

While Medicaid can help with these expenses you have to meet certain criteria to get maximum benefits. The good news is that you don’t have to be poor to qualify for Medicaid. The critical factor for maximizing benefits is knowing how to structure your finances. How your finances are structured has everything to do with the level of assistance that may be available to you.

Qualifying for Medicaid Benefits

Medicaid can cover costs for some types of long-term care –  if the patient lacks adequate financial resources to pay for it.  Medicaid was created to help people with virtually no financial assets to pay for their care.

The Medicaid application process is driven by an assessment of your ability to pay for your own care. To qualify for Medicaid benefits, the patient (and spouse if married) and any available countable assets must be reduced to about $2,000 for an unmarried patient. If the patient is married, the threshold is a little better, however; how it is calculated is a bit complex.

What If My Assets Are Above Medicaid Limits?

Repositioning assets is a common strategy for crisis Medicaid planning. Generally, this has to do with converting “available assets” into “protected assets”. This is a viable legal strategy for navigating Medicaid rules and guidelines. The net result is your financial profile reflects a certain inability to pay for care, thereby qualifying for assistance.

In lieu of spending down assets, another way to enhance your potential for receiving Medicaid benefits is to create a Medicaid Trust.

Because everyone’s circumstances are unique we encourage you to meet with a lawyer to discuss your particular situation. Learn what you need to know by scheduling a consultation with a crisis Medicaid planning lawyer.