Medicaid Planning

Medicaid planning is discussed in more detail in subsequent chapters. Planning is the process of restructuring an estate in a legal manner to accelerate Medicaid eligibility. Often, the purpose is to protect the Community Spouse or a disabled child, but it can be done to protect a family inheritance as long as you follow the rules; however, failure to follow the rules can constitute Medicaid fraud unless it is fully disclosed. When planning is done correctly, it has the effect of shifting the cost of nursing home care to someone else (e.g., the Medicaid program or long-term care insurance) before assets are depleted. The net result, if done with the Elder’s best interests in mind, will be a Medicaid-plus package. Medicaid will pay first toward essential care, while family dollars are preserved to pay for additional care and therapy not otherwise provided by Medicaid.

Medicaid Planning is a process. It begins by gathering information about the applicant and the applicant’s income and resources (and, where applicable, those of the Community Spouse). That information is used to analyze options and develop strategies for achieving eligibility within the framework of the program rules. As with a recent tax case, although a federal-State set of rules govrn eligibility, “state law determines the property interests “of applicants. See Drombrowski v. USA (E.D. Mich. 5/18/2022, at PDF p. 6)

See:

• T. Takacs & D. McGuffey, Medicaid Planning: Can It Be Justified?: Legal and Ethical Implications of Medicaid Planning, 29 William Mitchell Law Review 111 (2002) (pdf file)
• Revisiting the Ethics of Medicaid Planning, with Timothy L. Takacs, CELA, NAELA Quarterly, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Summer 2004. (If you are a NAELA member, you can access the paper on the NAELA Web.) (This paper was awarded the NAELA John Regan Writing Award for best article published in the NAELA Quarterly in 2004.)