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DRA Medicaid
Changes
The Deficit Reduction Act of
2005 (DRA) brought with it the biggest Medicaid rule changes in
14 years. Even with these changes, we are still able to protect
nearly all life savings for a caregiver spouse and more than
half for a single person.
The DRA
rules have a profound negative effect on estate planning,
particularly gifting. The Medicaid look back rules now include
all gifts including those to church, charity and family.
Whenever
one door closes another door opens. Even though our assisted
living facility Medicaid programs have lost all funding, there
is still hope for Veterans and surviving spouses of deceased
Veterans. Most eligible Veterans and their families are
completely unaware of the availability of VA benefits. Often
these benefits allow an eligible person to afford needed care at
home or at an assisted living facility.
Acute
illness such as cancer or heart disease is pretty well covered
by Medicare and a good supplement. Chronic illness like stroke
or Alzheimer’s disease gets a maximum of 100 days of coverage if
you are able to wangle at least three days in the hospital and a
medical determination that you need skilled or rehabilitative
care. Nearly half of nursing home patients go directly from home
to nursing home and end up with no nursing home Medicare
coverage at all. Without asset protection planning, sufficient
income to pay privately, long term care insurance, or some kind
of government benefits, a nursing home patient will go broke at
the rate of $6,000-$10,000 per month. Even worse, the patient
faces the possibility of running out of assets and still not
being qualified for Medicaid assistance.
If you
want to know more about Florida’s new Medicaid rules or
Veterans benefits, please call my office. I will be happy to
send you my latest article on DRA, talk to you or any group you
believe might benefit from this information.
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