Medicaid Planning

What Is Medicaid Planning?

Medicaid planning is the process of arranging an individual’s income, assets, and legal affairs to help qualify for Medicaid long-term care benefits while preserving assets to the extent permitted by law.

For many families, the need for planning arises unexpectedly. A loved one may enter a hospital or rehabilitation facility and then learn that returning home is no longer a safe or realistic option. In those situations, Medicaid may help cover qualifying long-term care services, including nursing home care and certain home- and community-based services.

Qualifying for Medicaid does not necessarily mean spending everything you own. Florida’s Medicaid rules distinguish between countable and non-countable assets and provide important protections for married couples when one spouse requires long-term care and the other remains in the community.

Depending on the circumstances, proper planning may allow a family to protect a home and other assets, provide for a spouse, restructure finances, and address income or asset issues while pursuing Medicaid eligibility. Because the rules governing income, assets, transfers, trusts, and eligibility are complex, actions taken without proper guidance can have unintended consequences.

Our office assists families with both advance Medicaid planning and crisis Medicaid planning, including situations where a loved one is already in a hospital, rehabilitation facility, assisted living setting, or nursing home. We evaluate each client’s circumstances and develop a strategy designed to obtain available benefits while protecting the individual and his or her family to the fullest extent permitted by law.