Long Island Elder Law & Estate Planning

What Is a Medicaid Maintenance Allowance?To be fully prepared for the future, you should understand some things about the Medicaid program. Though the program is technically intended for people who have little to no financial resources, Medicaid coverage is very important for a significant percentage of seniors who were never poor.

Medicaid is relevant because Medicare does not pay for custodial care. This is the type of care that you would receive in a nursing home or assisted living community. The lack of coverage is a very big deal, because long-term care is extremely expensive.

A Genworth Financial survey places the median annual cost for a private room in a nursing home in New York at $130,670. People sometimes spend multiple years receiving nursing home care, so the expenses can be considerable.

The Medicaid program will pay for long-term care, and it pays for most of the nursing home care that is received in the United States. To gain eligibility, people typically give assets to their loved ones before they apply for coverage.

This takes careful and informed planning, because there is a 60 month look-back. The gift giving must be completed at least five years before you apply for coverage. If you give away assets within this five year time frame, your eligibility will be delayed.

Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance

If you need long-term care while your spouse is still capable of handling his or her own activities of daily living, your spouse could be entitled to a Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance.

Under Medicaid program rules, you would be forced to contribute most of your income to the cost of the care you were receiving. However, this requirement would be waived if your spouse was relying on all or some of the income to maintain a minimal standard of living.

For the rest of 2014, the amount of the Medicaid Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance in the state of New York is $2931.

Community Spouse Resource Allowance

While we are sharing information about the rights of the healthy spouse, we should touch upon the Community Spouse Resource Allowance. The healthy spouse can keep half of the couple’s shared countable assets, but there is a limit.

In 2014, the maximum Community Spouse Resource Allowance is $117,240. The minimum is $74,820.

Medicaid Planning Report

As we stated previously, most seniors who are in nursing homes are enrolled in the Medicaid program, so you should understand the facts when you are preparing for the future.

We have prepared an in-depth report that is devoted to the subject of Medicaid planning. The special report is free, and you can obtain access through this website.

To get your copy of the report, click this link and follow the simple instructions: Smithtown NY Medicaid Planning.

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About Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney

Mark S. Eghrari is an attorney in private practice in Smithtown, New York. He has been in practice since 1988. Mark S. Eghrari provides extensive estate and tax planning services to individuals and businesses. Mr. Eghrari’s primary focus is helping clients avoid probate, minimize or eliminate Federal and State Estate taxes and protect their assets from the high cost of nursing care, if they become ill.