Avoid Nursing Home Poverty & Spend Down - Jane's Story

The story below has been changed in order to protect the client's confidentiality, while retaining the truth of the details.  While the Family & Aging Law Center cannot guarantee results, we can say that the results below are typical for our office. 

Video Transcript:

Hi everybody, Attorney Nicole Wipp here with the Family & Aging Law Center.

So, today, I'd love to share with you a story about our client, Jane (*not her real name!). Jane, like so many of our clients, needed nursing home level care. Yet, her family was so scared - because they did not know what to do, just like so many people don't know what to do. They had been being told, "you HAVE to do a spend down, you have to spend down her money to $2,000 before she can receive benefits for care...she can't have two houses (which is what she had). She can only have one house! You've gotta sell one!" All of these things were being told to the...

For the final topic in our series on Medicaid qualification rules, we'll be looking at important information in regard to spousal protections. As with part six of our series, your Medicaid planning advisor can best help you determine how the rules apply to your specific circumstances in your specific locality. Before you get into the specifics, however, it’s always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the general federal guidelines for Medicaid qualification that apply everywhere. To start at the beginning of our series, click here. 

Let's Continue....

Spousal Protections

The spouses of nursing home residents are provided certain protections under Medicaid law. Here is a brief overview:

• Snapshot of Couple’s Assets – With married applicants, Medicaid takes a “snapshot” of the couple’s assets when the ill spouse enters a hospital or long term care facility for at least a 30-day stay.
• Community Spouse Resource...

One of the things that we hear (a lot) from clients is how panicked they are when a loved one that has been in rehab is being suddenly discharged - but the family doesn't think they're really ready to go home - or, even worse, the family is told that their loved one is being discharged but needs 24/7 care or supervision.

Very few families are ready for this. The logistics of getting care for a person in a home environment may seem easy (just hire someone!), but most families, when faced with the cost, realize that this is not a long-term solution. That's when the questions start:

• Should you quit your job, to care for your loved one?
• Should you hire someone anyway, even if you (or they) can't afford it long-term?
• What benefits might be available to pay for care?
• How long will it take for benefits to kick in?
• What happens if benefits aren't enough - or if there are no benefits available?

Timing: Seeking Answers Before Your Loved One Is Discharged From Rehab Is Crucial

It is...