Paying for Long Term Care/Medicaid Qualification

When one's health begins to fail, often in-home caregivers need to be hired to assist family members care for their loved one.  When things get worse, a move to an assisted living or a rehabilitation facility may become necessary. And when one's health deteriorates further, sometimes nursing home care becomes necessary.  Such care can become very expensive, particularly when it turns into "long term" (often permanent) care.

Many people mistakenly believe that when that expensive care becomes necessary, "they are going to take all of our assets". The notion is that "they" (the medical facility or the government) can somehow seize one's assets.  That, of course, is not true.

However, arrangements must be made for the payment of the long term care. Medicare, health insurance and disability insurance do not cover long term care costs. "Long term care insurance" can be purchased to help cover the costs, but most people do not have that type of insurance in place.

People who have sufficient assets and income need, of course, to pay their own long term care costs. However, the Federal government's Medicaid program steps in and pays much of the long term care costs when single individuals, or one of the spouses in a marriage, needs such care and the individual meets the Medicaid qualification thresholds. 

The Medicaid qualification rules are complex, and they change periodically. It is important to learn about the Medicaid qualification rules well before the time comes when a Medicaid application must be made.  When Medicaid pays part or all of a person's long term care costs, the rules require that, following the Medicaid recipient's death, the Medicaid program be reimbursed some or all of what the Medicaid program paid if the individual owned certain types of assets at death.

Important forethought and discussion should given to Medicaid qualification planning in advance of a serious deterioration of health and well in advance of making the Medicaid application.