Medicaid's Role in Paying for Nursing Homes

Strategies for Long-Term Care Coverage

There are basically two ways to categorize funding for long-term care: private financing and public financing. Private financing can be found in two forms: (1) a self-pay plan where the person needing care pays for all costs of care from their available resources; and (2) partnering with an insurance company (a long-term care insurance policy) to insure part or all the cost of care.

When the self-pay route is insufficient or the person needing care runs out of insurance, public financing in the form of Medicaid long-term care benefits serves as the contingency plan. In other cases, people may seek to bypass the self-pay options and utilize Medicaid and other government benefits as their primary plan to pay for care costs.

Medicaid is often thought of as a government program that provides health insurance coverage for people with lower incomes. What fewer people realize is that Medicaid also offers assistance with paying for long-term care in nursing homes. This is an entirely separate area of Medicaid coverage, and it is not related to poverty. In reality, most people who receive care in nursing homes will utilize the Medicaid program at some point, unless they have extensive financial resources or unlimited insurance coverage.

When using the assets you own to pay for care in a nursing home, qualifying for assistanct through Medicaid will require you to spend a certain amount of your resources. The amount you may be required to spend can differ wildly depending on types of assets you own and whether you are married. To ensure that you can use your resources effectively, Medicaid planning can play an important role in addressing your needs. As a Certified Medicaid Planner, Gary Brown can help you determine the ideal strategies for preserving your while also ensuring that you will be able to qualify for benefits through Medicaid as quickly as possible.

The main goal of Medicaid planning is to legally shift as much of the cost of long-term care onto the government as the law allows. A Medicaid Planner can guide you through the complex rules that will affect your eligibility for benefits while also ensuring that you meet all requirments put in place by government agencies. Gary Brown can help you create and implement an effective plan to ensure that the assets you own and the income you receive will be structured in a way that complies with all applicable rules put in place by Medicaid rules. He can also help you use those rules to your advantage in order to ensure that your assets will be protected as much as possible. By doing so, you may be able to save the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Laws and public policies encourage you to take all necessary measures to protect certain types of assets and conduct financial transactions in ways that will save you money. You are legally allowed to shield various types of assets and forms of income from being considered when determining the amount you will be required to pay for nursing home care. By taking the correct steps to perform certain types of transactions or protect your assets, you can ensure that the government will take on some of the burden of paying for your care. In fact, this is encouraged by the policies the government has put in place and the rules used by Medicaid. However, understanding the best ways to take advantage of these complex rules requires a strong knowledge of the Medicaid program, and this is where a Certified Medicaid Planner can provide invaluable assistance.

Contact Our Louisiana Certified Medicaid Planner

Gary Brown is an attorney who provides assistance with edler law and a Certified Medicaid Planner who helps address concerns related to long-term care. To get experienced help with planning related to Medicaid benefits, contact our office at 504-447-6000 to schedule your initial consultation.