Long Island Elder Law & Estate Planning

Medicaid seems to be irrelevant to most Americans throughout their lives. You may have health insurance through your employer while you are working. Because you paid into the program sufficiently while you were traversing your career path you will ultimately be qualified for Medicare as a retiree.

What you have to understand is that Medicare does not pay for long-term care. Medicaid will help if you can qualify.

You may be surprised to hear that the majority of elders who are residing in nursing homes are Medicaid recipients. And, most of these people never considered themselves to be needy throughout their lives.

In this post we would like to look at three important details about Medicaid.

Community Spouse Resource Allowance

Let’s say that you needed to enter a nursing home but your spouse did not. Your spouse would be known as the “community spouse.”

He or she could keep half of community assets up to a limit of $115,920 in 2013 without jeopardizing your eligibility.

Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance

If your spouse was to rely on your income to maintain a minimum standard of living he or she could draw what is called a monthly maintenance needs allowance from your income. The maximum allowance for this year is $2898 per month.

Home Equity Limit

When the program administrators are evaluating your countable assets your home is not included up to a certain equity limit. In the state of New York this limit is $802,000 in 2013.

It should be noted that the community spouse may remain in the home regardless of the equity if the Medicaid applicant is married.

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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.