Long-term care is extremely expensive these days, and if you use the average length of stay coupled with the average costs associated with nursing home care you may be looking at a bill that exceeds $250,000.
This is why so many individuals angle toward Medicaid eligibility. These people rely on Medicaid to cover their long-term care expenses when they reach an advanced age because Medicare does not cover them.
Of course Medicaid is a program that is intended to help people who have significant financial need. For this reason there is a $2000 upper resource limit.
Before you dismiss the possibility of being eligible, you have to understand that a lot of your valuable property does not count toward this figure. Your home, your vehicle, and your personal possessions are not countable in a Medicaid eligibility context.
There are also provisions in place that allow the healthy or community spouse to retain his or her half of assets that do count toward that upper resource limit. There is a ceiling on this however, and there is a change in place for 2012. The community spouse may now keep countable assets of up to $113,640. In 2011 that number was $109,560.
Trying to position yourself to become eligible for Medicaid can be a bit complicated for the layperson. If you are interested in learning how to qualify for Medicaid while retaining a significant percentage of your assets, the wise course of action is to sit down and discuss the matter with an experienced and savvy Somerset County, NJ elder law attorney.
Alan Augulis, Estate Planning Attorney
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