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Q.
I’m not certain I can qualify for Florida Medicaid.
How can my estate be preserved from the potentially
overwhelming costs of nursing home care?
A. It
is not uncommon for individuals to pay as much as
$70,000.00 a year for nursing home care for a family
member, and that cost may not even include medicine
and medical care. If one can qualify for Medicaid
coverage, Medicaid will pay for the cost of nursing
home care (in excess of the nursing home patient’s
gross income), medical and psychiatric care, any
gaps in Medicare insurance, and all medications.
Fortunately, the State of Florida has
very favorable asset-protection laws, and, with
professional legal help, it is quite possible for a
person to qualify for Medicaid while preserving his
estate. An attorney familiar with this field of law
can offer several legal strategies for individuals
and married couples to qualify for Medicaid coverage
who might otherwise be unable to do so. Typically
the strategies involve rearranging assets in such a
way as to make them “non-countable” when applying
for Medicaid.
Unfortunately, there is a great deal of
misinformation among the public regarding Medicaid
qualification. One of the reasons is that although
Medicaid is a federal program, each state has its
own rules for Medicaid qualification, and often they
are quite different from one another. Be sure to
seek legal and financial counsel from a professional
familiar with the most recent Medicaid regulations
of your state for accurate information.
Q.
What does Medicaid cover once a nursing home patient
has qualified for it?
A.
For a single person, Medicaid will pay for room and
board at the nursing home, less the resident’s gross
monthly income. The resident is also permitted to
keep $35.00 a month for his or her personal needs.
For a married person, a nursing home resident’s
spouse may be allowed to keep some or all of the
resident’s gross income, depending on the financial
circumstances of the spouse. In addition, Medicaid
will pay for the following:
1.
In-patient and out-patient medical care;
2.
Surgery;
3.
Hospitalization;
4.
Transportation to and from the hospital;
5.
Dialysis;
6.
Psychiatric care and counseling;
7.
Medical supplies;
8.
Medication.
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