Once you reach a certain age, you begin to need extra help in your everyday life. Oftentimes, it sneaks up on you quite suddenly and unexpectedly. One minute you are fine, and the next minute you are heading to a nursing home. When it comes to preparing for and being able to afford our Long-Term Care needs, Long-Term Medicaid Planning is certainly ideal. However, when you are faced with a Crisis Medicaid Planning situation—with a need to quickly qualify for Medicaid benefits or face the prospect of burning through all your assets in order to afford nursing home care—people oftentimes panic and make detrimental mistakes that can seriously harm their eligibility and cost them a great deal of money.
Below we have outlined three of the most common mistakes people make with regard to Medicaid benefits when faced with impending entrance into a nursing facility for which they will have to pay out of pocket.
1) Thinking that it’s too late
It is never too late to start planning to qualify for Medicaid. You or your loved one may be in the process of settling into a nursing home, but there are still options that are available. Meeting with an experienced crisis Medicaid planning attorney like George Hough at ProActive Legal Care can make all the difference. You may still be able to keep your possessions intact and still qualify for Medicaid benefits if you act quickly. Do not think that you are out of options without consulting with an attorney first.
2) Trying to quickly give away assets
Crisis Medicaid planning involves quickly qualifying for important government medical benefits. Eligibility for these benefits is based on need, and those with significant assets or income usually are not eligible. Thus, in order to qualify, those who are facing out of pocket expenses oftentimes begin to rapidly give away their assets to friends or loved ones in hopes of avoiding having to liquidate said assets in order to qualify for benefits. However, Medicaid has a five-year look back period when it comes to calculating the value of your assets. Anything gifted in the last five years will still be calculated with regard to your Medicaid eligibility, so it is NOT a good idea to give your assets away in a crisis planning situation.
3) Going it alone without legal help
In order to save some money or to save their pride, many people attempt to handle their crisis Medicaid planning needs on their own. Medicaid planning is an incredibly complex process, and if you attempt to go it alone, especially in a crisis planning situation, there is a high degree of probability that mistakes will be made that could compromise your eligibility to receive much-needed benefits.
Without the legal guidance of the attorneys at ProActive Legal Care, you might end up making a crucial error that could severely jeopardize your eligibility and cost you much of the assets you’ve worked so hard to accumulate throughout your life, leaving little to pass on to your loved ones after you are gone. In a crisis Medicaid planning scenario, there is far too much at stake to risk making any of the aforementioned mistakes—particularly trying to handle this stressful situation on your own. Please do not hesitate to give us a call right away to discuss your options and learn how we can help!
