Essential Aspects Of Medicaid Estate PlanningMedicaid is the US federal and state funded program that covers long term nursing home care for certain categories of impoverished individuals under a certain set of circumstances. It is important to note that you can use Medicaid estate planning legally to satisfy certain minimum Medicaid eligibility criteria. This you can do by spending down your estate assets to a level that meets the criteria. But what are the minimum eligibility criteria for Medicaid? Well, basically, Medicaid is available to individuals who meet certain asset related guidelines, specific income caps, and certain additional age-related, blindness-related, and disability-related criteria. Moreover, eligibility rules for Medicaid change often and are quite complex. Additionally, Medicaid 'look-back rules are a hindrance to the 'spending down impoverishment strategy'. The look back period is 60 months for assets transferred to a living trust for less than fair market value. If the said transfer was made within 36 months of the Medicaid application, then the transferred asset is still countable as part of the estate of the owner. Today the law considers an asset transfer to a trust within the look-back period as an artificial means to qualify for Medicaid and triggers disqualification for an unlimited period of time. Therefore it is important that you obtain professional advice from a lawyer before you even consider spending down your assets to qualify for Medicaid in your specific situation. Some people consider Medicaid estate planning as unethical as it utilizes the option of spending down your estate assets to become eligible for Medicaid. This is because of a perception among people that Medicaid is only meant for impoverished people. Moreover, opponents of Medicaid estate planning suggest people should buy long term insurance or choose to use their estate assets to pay their way for medical treatment and care in the long term. Often the fear of estate owners losing control over their assets, the stigma attached to the taking of Medicaid benefits and the negative perception of Medicaid estate planning are the hurdles in the way of people going in for Medicaid in a big way. Further there is the looming federal Medicaid estate recovery process that also becomes the hitch in the path of most old people who want to opt for Medicaid estate planning. All these factors are enough to deter most people from opting for Medicaid estate planning by spending down of their estate assets. People can get more information online on all aspects of Medicaid before they can consider it as one of the viable estate planning tools for low cost long term nursing home health care. Therefore, it is recommended that you meet with your team of attorneys with all requisite documents and go in for Medicaid estate planning only after they determine it is suitable in your specific situation. |