Long Island Elder Law & Estate Planning

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Making a Medicaid plan is one of the most important ways that you can protect your assets. Many people do not realize that Medicare does not cover routine custodial nursing home care, of the type which is needed by most seniors who get older and who can no longer live independently. Nursing homes can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and if you cannot get these costs covered because Medicare and private insurers will not pay for them, this puts you into a very difficult situation.

If Medicare and private insurers won’t pay for nursing home care because you need custodial care, rather than skilled medical services, you will have to either pay out-of-pocket or will have to try to get qualified for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care. Medicaid covers the cost of a nursing home, but only for people who have few assets. If you want to protect your wealth and still get Medicaid to actually pay for your care, you are going to have to make a Medicaid plan well in advance of the time that nursing home admission is necessary due to your age or infirmity.

Making a Medicaid plan is not something you should try to do on your own, because there are complicated rules and because making a mistake could end up costing you the entirety of your life savings.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC can provide assistance to you with the Medicaid planning process and can help to protect as much of your wealth as possible. The sooner you plan, the more of your assets you generally will be able to protect. You should contact our firm as soon as possible for assistance. You can also review the following frequently asked questions about the Medicaid planning process in order to learn more about what is involved in protecting assets while qualifying for Medicaid to pay for you nursing home services.

      • Medicaid is a means-tested government program intended to provide healthcare services to people who cannot afford to pay for care privately. Medicaid is available to people of all ages and is commonly used by lower income families to get necessary medical services. Many people who are disabled also rely on Medicaid throughout their lives to provide for payments for costly medical treatments. Medicaid also may be the only source of coverage for nursing home care for people at all income levels, so even the wealthy could come to rely on Medicaid if they must go into a nursing home. Because Medicaid imposes income and resource limits, anyone with significant income or with substantial assets will need to talk with an attorney to find out if there is a way to qualify for Medicaid coverage if nursing home care becomes necessary.

      • Emergency Medicaid is a program that provides Medicaid to people who would not otherwise be eligible for Medicaid as a result of the person’s immigration status. It is not a program that provides you with immediate or prompt access to care if you get sick or need nursing home care. If you believe you may need Medicaid to cover care in the future, you should work with an experienced attorney to ensure eligibility and to apply before that care becomes necessary. Medicaid will also cover care retroactively in certain circumstances, and an attorney can assist you in determining if this is an option when you incur costly bills.

      • Medicaid is a vitally important service which provides many different kinds of medical benefits so it is difficult to asses which Medicaid benefits are the most important. However, for many people who are getting older and who can no longer live independently, the fact that Medicaid pays for nursing home care when other insurers do not pay for this type of care makes Medicaid a vital program. It can be difficult or impossible to buy any other insurance coverage that will provide the types of comprehensive coverage that Medicaid does for nursing home care.

      • Medicaid benefits can cover nursing home care in full if you qualify for coverage by having few or no assets or resources. One of the biggest benefits to Medicaid is that it pays for nursing home services. Medicaid can also cover many other treatments that you need at limited or no cost to you, and can also help to pay for coinsurance costs and Medicare premiums in certain circumstances if you have limited income. Talk with an attorney to find out exactly how much Medicaid benefits are.

      • You need a Long Island Medicaid attorney even if you have Medicare because Medicare does not over many of the things that Medicaid does. Medicare pays for skilled medical services in a nursing home environment only. This means, for example, if you must undergo a surgical procedure and you are hospitalized and then discharged while you still need your bandages changed, Medicare will pay for you to go into a nursing home so that someone can change your bandages. However, Medicare only pays for nursing home care for a very limited time and doesn’t pay if you just need help with routine activities of life. Because Medicaid covers nursing home care that Medicare does not pay for, you should strongly consider talking with a Medicaid lawyer even if you have Medicare. Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC can assist you in determining if you can make a Medicaid plan to qualify for Medicaid in case you need it— while still keeping your assets safe. You’ll need to do this well before nursing home care actually is needed so you should take action as soon as you can to talk with an attorney and to get the Medicaid planning process completed.

To find out more about what a Medicaid attorney can do for you and to get personalized help with your Medicaid plan, give us a call at (631) 265-0599 or contact us online today.