You should seek Medicaid benefits if you or your loved one suffers from a chronic illness or injury requiring long term health care. Paying the health care costs for such illnesses or injuries out of personal funds alone will quickly deplete all assets. Medicare coverage for skilled nursing facilities is very limited and, so is the coverage under most private insurance plans. You should, therefore, conduct planning for Medicaid benefits as quickly as possible in order to preserve assets and to avoid unintentionally incurring a disqualification period by transferring assets in the wrong way.
To qualify, a Medicaid applicant must meet the following qualifications: the countable assets of the applicant must be less than $2000 at least one day of each month, the applicant’s monthly gross income must not exceed $2,022, and finally an individual must be determined to be medically needy by the Department of Children and Family Services and be residing in a Medicaid qualifying healthcare facility. If the applicant has a spouse who is not applying for Medicaid, the spouse’s countable assets must not exceed $109,560. These asset and income amounts are the figures for the year 2009 and are subject to change each year. In addition to these figures that change each year, extensive changes occurred as a result of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which has been implemented in Florida as of November 1, 2007. It is crucial that a plan for Medicaid qualification be developed that incorporates these changes.
As a Florida Bar Board Certified Elder Law Attorney, Rebecca C. Bell’s practice focuses on this single area of the law and, therefore, she maintains the most up-to-date knowledge on Medicaid laws, including the recent, extensive changes mentioned above. If you would like an evaluation of your affairs or a family member’s affairs, you will need to complete an Asset Protection Information Sheet. Completing the information sheet will assist in determining the countable assets, how to make the countable assets exempt for Medicaid eligibility purposes, if the applicant meets the income requirement, and the actions necessary to qualify for Medicaid together with what estate planning documents need to be prepared or revised. You may call the office and have the Asset Protection Information Sheet mailed, faxed or emailed to you. Once you complete the Information Sheet, return it to our office and Rebecca C. Bell will contact you to inform you of the fee to provide you with the Medicaid plan for your family and make an appointment to meet with you.