Military Veteran Attorney Blog

I am excited to announce that I will be appearing on the "Ask Your Neighbor" radio show, every Friday morning, to discuss legal and elder law topics.

Bob Allison, the host of the show, has been a local Detroit radio icon for over forty (40) years. Ask Your Neighbor, can be heard Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 11:00 am on 690AM. Our firm will serve as a special guest host every Friday from 9:00 am to 9:30 am. If you would like more information about the topics I discuss on this blog, feel free to tune in and call in for some practical advice.

Next week, Kristina Barsch will be discusing Special Needs Trusts and Estate Planning.

If you are interested in learning more about the topics that I have discussed on this site and live in the Howell area, I will be presenting a seminar at the Oakhaven Manor Senior facility in Howell, Michigan on Friday April 3, 2008. All are welcome to attend.

For more information please feel free to contact Amanda at: (517) 548-9870.

Oakhaven Manor is located at:1320 Ashebury Lane, Howell, MI 4884.

We will be discussing the use of the Aid and Attendance benefit to assist seniors with their housing choices. In addition, I plan on discussing Medicaid and estate planning concepts that are crucial to understand in order to plan for this great benefit.

Hope to see you there!

Michigan's Department of Human Services (DHS) is the administrative branch responsible for administering and managing the state's Medicaid program. This branch of government is responsible for setting the Medicaid eligibility criteria each year. Recently, the DHS released its financial eligibility criteria.

The new community spouse resource allowance is a minimum of $21,912.00 and a maximum of $109,560.00. This number is important for married persons with a spouse in the nursing home. It determines how much in cash and otherwise non-exempt assets the spouse living in the community will have to spend down before qualifying for Medicaid.

The community spouse income allowance, which is the income that the community spouse can keep each month and not have to pay to the nursing home has been increased from a minimum of $1,750.00 to $2,739.00. The new utility allowance (which provides additional income protection for the community spouse above the minimum protected amount) is $550.00 per month. However, it is important to note that these numbers do not adjust until April of this year.

An important change to note is the update to the divestment rules. If you recall, from my previous post, divestment is a gift by an individual prior to applying for Medicaid benefits. Any gift made is divided by the "penalty divisor" to calculate the length of time the individual will be ineligible to receive benefits. The new penalty divisor is $6,362.00. Accordingly, for every $6,362.00 gifted by a nursing home patient, within the look back period, the state will withhold nursing home care for 1 month. As a result, if an applicant gives away $63,620.00 during 2009 and needs nursing home care, the state will impose a penalty of 10 months.

For many seniors, these numbers may be discouraging: particularly those related to the community spouse. DHS will require an unadvised senior to spend down to ½ of the family’s total assets with a maximum of $109,560.00 before qualifying for Medicaid. Furthermore, the income allowance is very seldom any higher than $1,750.00 based on cost of living expenses alone.

Despite these limits, it is still possible to save more than the normal allowances. Only a well versed elder law attorney can assist you with preservation of your assets and provide you or your family with the care that you deserve.

If you need assistance with Medicaid or nursing home planning, please contact our office.

Frequently, veterans that are residents of Macomb County who need assistance will consider applying for Medicaid benefits in addiiton to VA benefits. If you or your family fall into this category, it is important to understand the interaction between the different care systems as well as the differences in application of federal and state regulations.

Michigan Medicaid benefits fall into two categories: community based; and, long term care benefits. For the purposes of this discussion, we will consider long term care benefits. In order to qualify for this benefit, you must be: (1) over 65 and confined to a long term care facility; (2) be asset eligible; (3) be medically eligible; and, (4) reside at a facility that is certified to receive Medicaid benefits. In addition to this criteria you must also be free of any divestment penalties. Most people know this rule as the five (5) year "look back" period--and few actually understand what it means.

Pursuant to Medicaid regulations a divestment penalty is incurred for any transfer of an asset by an applicant for less than fair market value. This includes any sale of an asset for less than it is worth, any gift of an asset, or any other transfer in title to an asset. The resulting affect of such events is a one month penalty of ineligibility for every $6,300.00 of value transferred. The resulting penalty would begin to "run" when the Medicaid applicant is otherwise eligible to receive Medicaid benefits. While Medicaid has a "look back" period, the VA system does not. In fact, federal regulations provide that gifted assets prior to application for benefits should not be considered as part of the approval assets. However, any gifts made prior to application for VA benefits will trigger Medicaid penalties, if nursing home care occurs within five (5) years of the transfer. Accordingly, if you engage in Medicaid or VA planning it is important to work with an accredited individual that understands both Medicaid law and VA benefit planning, in order to avoid costly errors.

Finally, it is also important to understand that once a veteran or his or her spouse becomes eligible to receive Medicaid benefits in a nursing home, his or her VA aid and attendance benefits will be reduced to the amount of ninety (90) dollars a month. This is because the Aid and Attendance benefit is intended to provide a benefit to essentially keep a veteran out of a nursing facility. The benefit is more or less designed to provide supplemental income for veterans that require help and assistance and not necessarily 24 hour care. However, despite its limitations, if the proper planning is performed, it is possible to use the benefit to provide care, similar to the care that is provided at nursing homes, in assisted living facilities and senior independent living facilities that offer health care and assistance. In metro Detroit, veterans can find such care in several different facilities. In Sterling Heights and Macomb county, veterans will frequently look at moving into Pine Ridge, American House, or Oak Haven facilities.