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A Medicaid lien on a home must eventually be satisfied. Typically, a Medicaid lien is placed on real property when an individual is receiving benefits through the Medicaid program during his or her lifetime and still owns a primary residence.

Have you ever heard of the “5-year lookback” and wondered what people are talking about? If you have, you are not alone.

Learn estate planning techniques such as the Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, spousal refusal, and exempt transfers that can be utilized when one or both spouses need Community or Chronic Medicaid.

Giving assets away during one’s lifetime is usually done for two reasons. The first is to reduce the value of one’s estate to avoid estate taxes at death. The second is to protect assets in the event one needs long-term care covered by Medicaid.

Important changes to the Community Medicaid program in New York State were enacted in 2020. Not all of the changes have been immediate and the fate of others remains uncertain.

Given the changes to Community Medicaid, there are still a few unknowns regarding how New York State will handle certain issues. In April 2020, the State passed a new thirty-month lookback for all Community Medicaid applicants.

Question: My mother has an irrevocable trust she set up for Medicaid planning purposes. My sister is the trustee and she is paying moms bills from the trust. Is that correct?

Spousal Refusal allows the spouse living in the community to refuse to use his or her assets in calculating the eligibility of the spouse applying for Medicaid long term care. If one spouse requires nursing home care, the community spouse does not need to spend down all of his or her assets and become impoverished paying for care.

Question: My mother applied for Chronic Care Medicaid to cover her stay in a nursing home facility. At the time of her application she had an individual retirement account (IRA) in the amount of $11,000.00 and $2,000.00 in her bank account. I was informed that the resource allowance for Medicaid is $15,900.00 (2021). However, my mother was denied Medicaid for failure to “maximize” her IRA. What does this mean and was the Department of Social Services correct in its determination to deny Medicaid?

Immediate need Medicaid is an expedited application process to receive long term care at home paid for by Medicaid. Unlike the standard Medicaid application process, which can take approximately 6 months to receive services, those applying for immediate need Medicaid tend to receive care at home within one month of applying.