Cincinnati Medicaid Lawyers Explain Why You Can’t Wait to Start Your Medicaid Plan
By Barry Zimmer on April 12th, 2018 in Medicaid
Cincinnati Medicaid lawyers assist with the creation of a Medicaid plan. Many people do not realize that they need to make a plan or they wait too long to do so, which can be detrimental. It’s best to take action early to make sure that you are able to qualify for Medicaid when you need coverage.
Zimmer Law Firm will assist you in determining if creating a Medicaid plan is important for your situation. We can also help with the actual planning process and can work with you to make effective use of the legal tools you need to make a Medicaid plan.
You should give our Cincinnati Medicaid lawyers a call today to get personalized advice. You can also read on to learn some key reasons why you should make sure not to delay in the creation of a Medicaid plan.
It Takes Time to Make a Medicaid Plan
Medicaid planning can involve devising different strategies to protect your wealth, such as transferring assets to a specific type of irrevocable trust. The process of creating the right legal documents and transferring assets in an appropriate way can be time consuming. You don’t want to be scrambling to create a Medicaid plan when you get sick or when you begin to get older and fear that you’ll need costly nursing home care. You should work with an experienced attorney to make your plans as soon as you have assets you want to ensure you protect through the Medicaid planning process.
You Never Know When You’ll Need to Have Your Plan in Place
Many people assume they won’t need to go into a nursing home or get long-term care at home until they are very old, so they think they have lots of time to create a Medicaid plan. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. You could suffer a stroke or get into an accident and become unable to live on your own even if you are still relatively young. If you need Medicaid when you are younger, you are vulnerable to losing your assets when you have to spend your money in order to get means-tested benefits. You don’t want your assets at risk even when you are young, so you should not hesitate to get your plans underway.
The Consequences if You Wait too long Can be Dire
Not having a Medicaid plan in place could cause you to experience substantial financial loss. In many cases, Medicaid is the only source of payment for long-term care or for nursing home care. Most private health insurance does not pay anything for long-term care at home or for nursing home care if you need routine help with activities of daily living.
This kind of care is called custodial care, and it is not covered despite the fact it is very expensive. Medicare also does not cover custodial care. Medicaid is the only third party that will pay for it, unless you have purchased very costly long-term care insurance — and even then, the policy may have big limitations so you still may face out-of-pocket costs.
This means if you cannot qualify for Medicaid because you have too many assets to get these means-tested benefits and you have no plan in place, you could be forced to pay out-of-pocket for care until you have impoverished yourself. And you can’t just give away wealth you want to protect when this happens because Medicaid has a five year lookback rule that reviews five years of transactions to see if you gave away or transferred wealth for less than fair market value. If you did, you’ll be temporarily disqualified from Medicaid coverage — which means you’ll be forced to privately pay big bills for care.
Getting Help from Cincinnati Medicaid Lawyers
If you do not want to put your assets at risk, you should call Zimmer Law Firm today to create your Medicaid plan. We can provide personalized one-on-one help analyzing your situation, determining if you need a Medicaid plan, and guiding you through the process of putting your plans in place before it is too late.
To find out more about how we can help you, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 513-721-1513 at any time to talk with our Cincinnati Medicaid lawyers and find out what we can do for you.