Medicaid Spend Down

Nathan Ziegler & Associates | Lubbock, TX (806) 765-8801
http://estateplanningattorneylubbocktx.com/practice-areas/

Do you have a loved one living in an assisted living or skilled nursing facility? Will your loved one need long-term care within the next five years?

Whether you are planning ahead or in the middle of a care crisis, we will help your family take the important steps and decisive actions needed to help you reduce or eliminate the rising costs of care for your loved one.

Nathan Ziegler & Associates is a full-service elder law, estate planning, Medicaid nursing home benefits, probate law and veterans benefits firm in Lubbock, TX. We are here to help you navigate through the costs and preparations associated with long-term care and estate planning. With the skilled professionals and attorneys at Nathan Ziegler & Associates, we can provide peace of mind and protection to seniors, their homes and savings, and their families.

We understand that every situation is unique, and invite you to call our office today for an appointment at (806) 765-8801

Practice Areas:

Long-Term Care Planning
Veterans’ Benefits Planning
Disability Planning
Medicaid Planning
Estate Planning
Guardianship
Adult Guardianship Litigation
Probate
Asset Protection

Nathan Ziegler & Associates
12002 Trafalgar Avenue
Ste. 202
Lubbock, TX 79424
(806) 765-8801

Nathan Ziegler & Associates
1030 Andrews Hwy
Suite #101,
Midland, TX 79701

How does the Medicaid spend down work for a single person?
Under the default rules for Texas Medicaid, a person can only have $2,000 in accountable assets. That means if I have $50,000 and a house, say for instance, I need to spend $48,000 and I can exempt the house initially. What Medicaid is anticipating is that I’m going to spend $48,000 and once I’m down to below $2,000, essentially impoverished then I should qualify for Medicaid. There are numerous exemptions. And almost for every rule in Medicaid, it’s true, except for when it’s not true. So for almost every rule there’s an exception, there’s an exemption, there’s a loop hole for lack of a better term and knowing what exceptions and exemptions and planning opportunities exist at a certain situation and you can’t just sit down and read the 800 page manual and understand it all. You have to have a lot of working experience and working through different client situations, navigating the bureaucracy, working back and forth with the case workers, with the attorneys that work with the state of Texas to navigate very complex rules. And I’ll just give you an example, if a person has $100,000 worth IRA and they need Medicaid, typically they’re going to go in and the state is going to require them to spend that $100,000 down until it’s gone and then they can qualify. But if you use an elder law attorney who has a good knowledge of the in-depth rules, we can take that $100,000 IRA, put it in a Medicaid compliant annuity and protect all of it and still get the person qualified for Medicaid even if they’re single. That’s just one example of lots of exceptions, the little known rules that can be used to maintain options and quality of life for the person needing long term care.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRTBh1Ui2htawzTs4L8sHew