All Medicaid recipients are able to keep some of their assets and still qualify for benefits. The key is to understand what Medicaid considers a “countable” versus a “non-countable” asset in Maryland. For instance, a single person in Maryland can keep a few items, a specific type of pre-paid funeral plan, personal belongings, insurance up to $1,500 and up to $2,500. A married couple, one living in the community, and one residing in the nursing home can keep the same exempt assets plus an automobile, and their home, providing the home is under $500,000, and up to $109,560. However, it’s…
Nursing homes and long-term care options are never favorite topics for conversation, regardless whether you are the elderly person needing care, or the family member trying to find care for a loved one. Still, with the fact that 40 percent of adults over the age of 65 will spend some time in a nursing home, the topic is likely to come up at some point. The question is how do you choose the right nursing home? SmartMoney addressed the issue in a recent article, offering up some helpful tips. In essence, the name of the game is research, both remote…
Purchase a whole life insurance, with a rider to the policy which pays for long-term care ( home care or care in an assisted living or nursing home). If you do not utilize the long term care benefit, your beneficiary will receive the policy’s face amount. Example. You apply for a $500,000 whole-life insurance policy, with a rider for long-term care that will pay you 2% of the face amount each month if you need long-term care services. Therefore, you will receive up to $10,000 monthly ($500,000 x 2%) to pay for home-care, assisted living, or nursing home services. Consequently, if…
In a study in the journal Health Affairs, that expansion of home-based care can save states money over the long run. The paper looked at Medicaid data from 1995 to 2005. States incurred extra cost when they spent to create new social service programs to care for people at home, but that expense, over time, paid for itself because it was cheaper to care for people at home. Policymakers often cite the "woodwork effect" as a reason to worry about expanding home-based care. This is the argument that if states provided people what they want — home-based care — then…
In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Olmstead v. L.C. said that the unnecessary institutionalization of people with disabilities is a form of discrimination. State Medicaid programs are required to provide alternatives so that the elderly and disabled can choose to get their care at home, instead of in state institutions or nursing homes. But the Supreme Court said there were limits. A doctor, representing the state, has to determine that the person is capable of living at home. The person has to want to get that care at home. And a state when considering its responsibility to move…
Similar to traditional elder law firms, Senior Life Care Planning helps families make immediate arrangements for long-term care in order to promote an elder's health and safety, handling all the legal work and helping families find and pay for the right care (including Medicaid, Veterans Benefits, and other public benefit qualification as needed and desired) without bankrupting the elder. But we offer so much more: First, we have care coordination and support to families whose elderly loved ones are still living at home or with family. Our on-staff care coordinators locate and coordinate needed care and community services, offer family…
Qualifying veterans can receive care at VA facilities. Additionally, those 65 years old and older – and those with certain disabilities – may qualify for Medicare. The VA and Medicare offer different, yet valuable, benefits to veterans." Through the VA, eligible veterans have access to a full range of preventive outpatient and inpatient services, within the VA health care system, which includes hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, pharmacies and doctors nationwide. VA co-payments and deductibles, including the costs of prescription drugs, are generally less than Medicare. Eligibility for benefits is based on a priority system. According to the United States Department…
The cost of nursing homes and other assisted living facilities continues to rise significantly, according to the Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs conducted by insurance provider MetLife. Private-room nursing home rates rose 4.6% in 2010, increasing to an average of $229 per day or $83,585 per year, while assisted living rose 5.2% on average to $3,293 per month, or $39,516 per year. "The cost of care in nursing homes and assisted living has been and continues to be high and, in the past year, the increases have even outpaced medical care inflation of about 3%," Sandra Timmermann, director of…
Senior Life Care Planning has worked with countless individuals, couples, and families as advocates for their rights, care and proper services. We provide care advocacy services and have facilitated, our clients, to qualify for Medicaid benefits to cover long-term nursing home expenses. Paying for skilled nursing and rehabilitation care can cost approximately nine thousand dollars each month. We considerably reduce and have often eliminated these financial stressors, while sustaining a superior standard of living for spouses and protecting a family’s assets.
Frederick, MD 
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