back

Should I see an attorney before looking into Medicaid assistance - Portland, Oregon.

May 14, 2010

Medicaid rules and formulas are complicated and when you talk to a Medicaid worker, you may not get the whole story. You will be told that if your spouse goes on Medicaid, you get to keep half the assets, and that’s all they tell you about that. Or they tell you how much income you can keep. They don’t fill in the details and tell you there are exceptions and ways to do better than that. That’s the kind of information you get if you see an attorney.

For example, Medicaid has a formula that says this is how much money you need to “spend down” before your husband gets Medicaid, so one of the things we do is figure out how the formula applies to you. That’s not always cut and dried. Sometimes a couple could use some advocacy and advice.

We explain what the Medicaid formulas are and explain that although you have to live with those formulas, we can give you some advice on how to do that.

Say you have $100,000, a house, and a car and your husband is in a nursing home. Under Medicaid rules, you can keep your house and car, your husband can keep $2,000 and you can keep $50,000. The other $48,000 has to be spent before your husband gets Medicaid. What are you going to do?  If you ask a Medicaid worker, he will say, “Pay the $48,000 to the nursing home and when the money is gone, we’ll put your husband on Medicaid.”

Are you looking for assistance with asset protection? - Contact the Elder Law attorneys at the Law Offices of Nay & Friedenberg in Portland, Oregon at (503) 245-0894 to set an appointment.