Right Way and the Wrong Way to Help Out Parents (Part 2)
In last week’s post I was explaining the wrong way for children to chip in financially to help their parents. The wrong way can cause ineligibility periods for Medicaid and VA benefits. It can also eliminate the ability of the parents to repay the children when they
Is There Any Government Benefit Program I Am Not Aware Of? (Part 2)
In last week’s post I related a common question about government benefits – “is there something out there in the way of benefits that we could get that we’re just not aware of”? Most recently, a son, whose dad is in a nursing home already receiving Medicaid benefits, asked
Is There Any Government Benefits I am Not Aware of? Part 1
In this week’s post I want to talk about a common question I get about government benefits. “Is there any benefit my family member can get that I am not aware of?” In other words, “am I missing anything”? I can certainly
Getting and Then Keeping Medicaid- Part 3
This week’s post is the last of 3 on the danger of losing Medicaid after having been approved. In both of our cases the Qualified Income Trust was the cause and each time it happened during the annual redetermination process. As I explained last week
Getting Medicaid and then Keeping it (Part 2)
In my post last week, I started to tell you about the dangers of losing Medicaid benefits after qualifying for them. That’s because you cannot put things on “autopilot”. One reason is that getting a Medicaid approval only lasts for one year. The State requires recipients to go through
Getting and Keeping Medicaid – Part 1
In this week’s post I focus back on Medicaid. As I often tell people, every year it seems that securing Medicaid approvalsis increasingly difficult. There are more ways to be tripped up by the complex and often confusing rules and regulations. Many of the problems stem from keeping Medicaid
Gift or Theft? – Part 3
In this week’s post I give you the conclusion to John’s saga with Medicaid. As you will recall, we have applied for Medicaid for John’s sister, Mary. In reviewing the 5 years of records which we must submit to the State, we found that John’s brother, Jerry
Gift or Theft ? (Part 2)
In last week’s post I told you about John’s call about Medicaid for his sister, Mary. During our review of her 5 years of financial records we discovered transfers of funds while their brother, Jerry was handling her finances. Jerry admitted that he took the money without
Gift or Theft (Part 1)
The call from John involved another crisis planning case. His sister, Mary was already in a nursing home and had a minimal amount of assets remaining to be spent down. Before entering the facility she had lived for many years with her other brother, Jerry. Although she was able to
New Medicaid and VA Figures for 2019
The cost of living adjustment for 2019 for many of the government programs that affect our clients’ lives has been announced so here they are. For 2019, the Social Security Administration announced that Social Security recipients will receive an increase of 2.8%, which is greater