Did you know that Los Angeles nursing homes costs are over $100,000 a year? How long will your money last you? Will you have to sell your home when you don’t want to?
Or worse yet, do you want to join thousands of others who needed to file for bankruptcy because of crushing nursing home expenses?
Well you probably heard about Medi-Cal and how it can help you pay these high nursing home costs.
I have assisted numerous families get the right help they need to pay for the nursing home without selling their home, giving away assets, or getting a reverse mortgage! At the end, proper planning will leave your loved ones with an inheritance.
Download my free cheat sheet which outlines the steps you need to take to get the help you need not to go broke by nursing home costs. “How To Pay For The Nursing Home Without Spending Your Money, Selling Your Home, Or Gifting Assets To Your Children”. Get your copy today! It includes thousands of dollars of Medi-Cal secrets that will help you qualify for Medi-Cal.
Once you read my guide, you can book a Free Medi-Cal Consulation with an attorney to help implement your strategy and be worry free.
If not, then feel free to read on where I cover the 17 Facts You Need to Know About Medi-Cal Long Term Care and Nursing Home Payment Help.
Click a section below to be taken directly to that question.
There are usually four major types of Long Term Care. The four types of Long Term Care are:
A. In-Home Care Services – Professionals will come to your home and provide assistance on an hourly or full-time basis. Prices for Long Term Care Services range from $15/hour to $50/hour.
B. Adult Day Care – Care for certain number of hours every so often. Must transport individual to physical location.
C. Assisted Living Facility – Live in a community with added help and support from professionals. This type of care allows more freedom for the individual.
D. Nursing Home Facility – This is the most intensive care – 24 hour care with multiple nurses on staff at every moment.
Medicare is a limited government program for those over the age of 65, who have made social security contributions.
Medi-Cal is a joint federal and state program designed for those that “fit in the box”. That box is the Medi-Cal rules for assets and income.
Medicaid is what Medi-Cal is called in every other state but California.
Yes. Medi-Cal will cover a portion of your nursing home costs. You must first qualify for Medi-Cal. Then, Medi-Cal will calculate your monthly share based on your income. Medi-Cal will pay the rest. Minimizing income is therefore instrumental to Medi-Cal planning.
Yes, it is true, but extremely limited. First, you must qualify for Medi-Cal. Then, you have to apply for the Medi-Cal Assisted Living Waiver program. There is a long wait list (currently estimated at 1 to 2 years) to be admitted to the program. Once admitted, you must look for an assisted living facility that actually accepts Medi-Cal. They are quite limited.
Yes. It is true. First, you must qualify for Medi-Cal. Then, you must apply for IHSS (In Home Support Services).
Medi-Cal will send a case worker to your house to assess how many hours a week you can receive that will be covered by Medi-Cal.
Of course, a share of cost calculation will be applied much like a nursing home, where you will be responsible for specified amount based on your income, before Medi-Cal will pay.
Hours are not easy to get approved. Because of the budget, Medi-Cal does not freely give hours to patients in need. There is also a maximum number of hours that can be given per month (currently 283).
No. It’s one of the largest misconceptions of Medi-Cal. Think of Medi-Cal eligibility as a “box”. Medi-Cal makes the rules of whether a person “fits into the box”. If you are ineligible for Medi-Cal, you can plan ahead and qualify for the program. Much like taxes, you should always plan ahead to get the best outcome.
Medi-Cal sets certain guidelines to qualify for long term care. We call this process “fitting into the box”. By engaging in the proper planning, we can qualify many individuals that wouldn’t otherwise qualify. Medi-Cal rules state that there is a certain amount of assets that you are allowed to have to qualify for Medi-Cal. It depends on whether you are single or married. It also depends on what type of assets you own. Lastly, it depends on amount of funds in your bank account.
Because the rules are extremely complicated, I have created a simplified no-cost cheat sheet that will discuss Medi-Cal qualification. It is titled “How To Pay For The Nursing Home Without Spending Your Money, Selling Your Home, Or Gifting Assets To Your Children”. Get your copy today! It includes thousands of dollars of Medi-Cal secrets that will help you qualify for Medi-Cal.
In this example we have Mary who owns a house worth $400,000, 2 cars worth $10,000, and an investment account with $50,000. She has a total net worth of $460,000. Does she qualify for Medi-Cal? No.
On the other hand, we have Susan living in Beverly Hills with a house worth $3,000,000 and a car worth $100,000. Her net worth is $3,100,000 Does she qualify for Medi-Cal? YES.
Do you believe that Mary should also qualify for Medi-Cal in this instance? We do, as well.
The difference lies in the rules of what is considered “countable” vs. “non-countable” for Medi-Cal. A house, no matter how valuable is not counted when it comes to Medi-Cal qualification. Who knew? Same goes for one car.
With planning, can Maria get Medi-Cal? Yes, she can.
If you would like more information on how you can qualify to get Medi-Cal, please set up an appointment to speak with me over the phone and set up a Personal Medi-Cal Consultation now.
Because the rules are extremely complicated, I have created a simplified no-cost cheat sheet that will discuss Medi-Cal qualification. It is titled “How To Pay For The Nursing Home Without Spending Your Money, Selling Your Home, Or Gifting Assets To Your Children”. Get your copy today! It includes thousands of dollars of Medi-Cal secrets that will help you qualify for Medi-Cal.
Do not give up. You need to engage in Medi-Cal planning to qualify for Medi-Cal. Medi-Cal planning requires setting up a myriad of trusts that work hand in hand with the Medi-Cal rules.
No! Spend down can result in the loss of Medi-Cal benefits for up to 2 ½ years. You first need to figure out if you need to spend down the asset. Then, you have to transfer the asset in a particular manner to avoid a Medi-Cal penalty. Avoiding Medi-Cal penalties for transferring assets is the hardest part of Medi-Cal planning.
No, No, No! Download this cheat sheet to see exactly why that is the wrong thing to do.
“How To Pay For The Nursing Home Without Spending Your Money, Selling Your Home, Or Gifting Assets To Your Children”. Get your copy today! It includes thousands of dollars of Medi-Cal secrets that will help you qualify for Medi-Cal.
Medi-Cal look back period is 30 months or 2 ½ years. Medi-Cal looks at all of your transactions in the past 30 years. For every gift you make (usually done to “take assets out of your name”), Medi-Cal will assess a penalty depending on the amount transferred. For example, a transfer of $80,000 to your child will result in a penalty of approximately 8 months. Even if you are eligible and in the nursing home today, Medi-Cal will not pay a dime until 9 months from now.
Because the rules are extremely complicated, I have created a simplified no-cost cheat sheet that will discuss Medi-Cal qualification. It is titled “How To Pay For The Nursing Home Without Spending Your Money, Selling Your Home, Or Gifting Assets To Your Children”. Get your copy today! It includes thousands of dollars of Medi-Cal secrets that will help you qualify for Medi-Cal.
Once qualified for Medi-Cal, this is the amount that Medi-Cal will make you pay first, before Medi-Cal will cover any long-term care expenses.
If you are married and one spouse needs long term care, Medi-Cal will allow the “well spouse” to keep $3,161 a month for the well spouse. There are situations that allow the well spouse to keep more.
After you receive Medi-Cal long term care benefits, Medi-Cal will keep a tally of how much they spent. When you die, Medi-Cal will want to be paid back for all it has paid for you. They will look at your probate assets to retrieve everything that you owe Medi-Cal.
The secret is to avoid Medi-Cal recovery.
You can avoid Medi-Cal recovery by drafting and funding your Living Trust.
