Medicaid Redeterminations – Part 1

When I explain how Medicaid works, I cover the income and asset limits in the case of a single applicant as well as a married one.  I also talk about the 5 year Medicaid look back and the Medicaid penalty.  People typically ask me about the qualified income trust and Medicaid estate recovery.

Meeting all these requirements makes the Medicaid application process seem overwhelming to most – and I wouldn’t disagree.  Once we get clients approved there is a sigh of relief – literally and figuratively.  Mission accomplished.   

My final task as part of the application process is to explain how not to lose Medicaid.  That’s because there is an annual redetermination process.  Medicaid eligibility must be recertified each year.  Years ago when I first started filing Medicaid applications, getting a redetermination notice was rare, however, now just about every county sends out annual redetermination applications each and every year.

Even so, I would tell clients that the redetermination application process is much easier than the original application process and that most clients can handle these “redets” themselves rather than hiring us.  Recently, however, I have noticed more scrutiny by a number of counties who are asking for more documents than they once did.

I suspect that this is because the State views an opportunity to knock people off of the program.  In many cases, the redet process is still easy, however, there are areas of concern for some.  Next week I’ll tell you more.