Medicaid planning for a parent’s care
Nursing home care can cost more each month than many families earn. Medicaid can pay for it, and planning ahead decides how much the spouse at home keeps.
Most of our care clients are grown children. A parent has had a fall or a diagnosis, the other parent is still at home, and someone has to work out how the bills will be paid. We meet with the parents and, if they agree, with the children too.
What we look at
Income, savings, the house and any gifts made in the look-back period. The rules decide what counts and what the spouse at home may keep, and they change each year, so we work from the current figures for the state your parent lives in.
The application
The care package includes preparing and filing the Medicaid application, gathering the statements it asks for and answering the caseworker’s questions until there’s a decision.
What the care package covers
One fee per household, billed in two halves: when you sign the fee letter, and when the application is filed.
Care package
Planning, new documents if needed, and the application.
- A review of income and savings against the Medicaid rules
- A plan for the spouse who stays at home
- New powers of attorney if the old ones fall short
- The Medicaid application, prepared and filed
- A video call with the grown children
- Appeals of a denied application
Planning meeting only
A two-hour review and a written summary of options, if you’d rather file the application yourselves.
- A review of income, savings and the house
- A written summary of the options
- The Medicaid application
Appeals and hearings after a denial are quoted separately.
Questions about Medicaid planning
Is it too late if Dad is already in a nursing home?
Usually not. There are often still choices that protect the spouse at home. Call us before paying down savings.
Will the state take the house?
Not while the spouse at home lives there. What happens later depends on the plan and the state’s recovery rules; we explain both in the planning meeting.
Can my brother in Lincoln join the meetings?
Yes, by video, if your parent agrees.
Talk it through before the next bill
The free call is a good place to start, even if a parent is already in care.