Medicaid Crisis Planning

A Medicaid crisis is a situation where an individual must enter a nursing immediately (or very soon) and has been informed that he or she is not eligible for Medicaid benefits to help pay for it. Given that in New York the median annual cost of a private room in a nursing home exceeds $148,000, this is indeed a crisis for the vast majority of families. In fact, many families exhaust their life savings within a year or two of a family member entering a nursing home.

So, if you are currently facing a Medicaid crisis, are you destined to go broke paying for necessary care? Not if we can help it. And we can. There are several Medicaid long-term care programs available to New York residents. These programs have different operational and eligibility requirements, together with varying benefits. We are experienced with all aspects of Medicaid in New York and can help you become eligible for benefits to pay for your care.

A word of caution: You may have heard that it is possible to become eligible for Medicaid by simply giving your “stuff” away. Not exactly. When applying for Medicaid, any gifts or asset transfers made within five years of the date of your application may be subject to penalties. This is called the “look back period” and the penalties for violating it can be severe, amounting to months or even years of ineligibility for Medicaid benefits. The exact penalty is determined by dividing the amount of assets gifted or transferred by what Medicaid determines to be the average cost of nursing home care in New York.

The penalties for improper gifting, the complexity of Medicaid rules, and the shortage of time available to find suitable payment options during a Medicaid crisis, make it extremely important to work with an experienced elder law attorney. We have helped many families manage Medicaid crisis situations and obtain necessary care without going broke. We welcome the opportunity to do the same for you and your family.