Medicaid Crisis Planning
Nursing home costs in Massachusetts can exceed $14,000 per month. When a loved one needs long-term care and the family has not planned ahead, there is still a great deal that can be done. Call us now. There is no time to waste.
The Reality of Long-Term Care Costs
Skilled nursing care in Massachusetts is among the most expensive in the country. Families who have worked and saved their entire lives can see those savings depleted in a matter of months. MassHealth, Massachusetts's Medicaid program, can pay for nursing home care, but only after you navigate a strict eligibility process with complex rules about assets, income, and past transfers.
If you are thinking about MassHealth, the most important thing you can do right now is speak with an attorney who focuses on this area. The rules are complicated, the application process is demanding, and the cost of mistakes is high.
How MassHealth Eligibility Works
To qualify for MassHealth long-term care benefits, an applicant must meet both an income test and an asset test. MassHealth looks back five years at all asset transfers to determine whether any gifts or transfers were made to reduce countable assets, called the five-year look-back period. Transfers during the look-back period can result in a period of ineligibility, meaning the family may owe for care even after approval.
Not all assets are counted, and not all transfers trigger penalties. There are significant protections for the spouse who remains at home, called the community spouse, including a protected asset allowance and a minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance. Understanding what is counted, what is protected, and what planning is still possible is exactly what we do.
Even if your loved one is already in a nursing home, it is not too late to plan. Crisis planning strategies can still protect a meaningful portion of the family's assets. Call us before you spend another month's worth of savings.
What Crisis Planning Can Do
Spend-down strategies. Massachusetts allows applicants to reduce countable assets by spending them on allowable items, including prepaying funeral expenses, home improvements, paying off debt, and purchasing exempt assets. Done correctly, this reduces the assets that MassHealth counts without triggering a penalty.
Irrevocable Medicaid trusts. For families who have time before a crisis, an irrevocable trust can move assets outside the look-back period. These trusts require planning years in advance, but they are one of the most effective tools available.
Community spouse protection. Federal and Massachusetts law provide significant protections for the spouse who is still living at home. We make sure community spouses keep everything they are entitled to, and often more than they expected.
Promissory notes and annuities. In some situations, converting countable assets into a qualifying income stream can accelerate eligibility without triggering a transfer penalty.
The application itself. MassHealth applications for long-term care are detailed and document-intensive. We prepare and submit the application and respond to requests for additional information on your behalf.