Is There Ever an Easy Medicaid Application? Part 2

In my post last week I began to tell you about an “easy” Medicaid application that suddenly became not so easy.  A deposit in one of the applicant’s known accounts led to the revelation that there had been at least one other account unbeknownst to the applicant’s daughter.

What this means is that there was other money during the 5 year look back that had to be traced and documented.  Because the applicant already spent down the rest of her assets and we had filed the Medicaid application, timing was critical. The failure to provide the required documentation could result in the application being denied for “lack of verification”, meaning it is incomplete.  Since the client was already accruing costs in a nursing home, a Medicaid denial acts as a “double whammy”.  Not only is there no Medicaid coverage but it also means the facility will continue to bill at the higher private pay rate.

So, now the problem was how to get this information?  We knew from the check image what bank to contact.  In most cases, the bank can search its database if given the check copy.  For some reason, in this case the bank could not find it.  In part that may have been because the check was a bank check not a check drawn on the applicant’s own account.  Nevertheless, it should have been able to tell us the source of the funds it received to issue the bank check.

The clock was running, however, so we had to try other methods.  If the applicant had other accounts that earned interest there would be 1099s issued.  The 1099 would have the account number on it.  It’s one reason we always ask for an applicant’s tax returns and 1099s.  Except that in this case, the applicant didn’t have enough income to trigger the need to file a return for the years in question.  

Did we reach a dead end?  Maybe not.  Next week I’ll tell you what we did next.