In most situations, transfers of assets that have taken place within five years of filing an application for “Nursing Home Medicaid” result in a penalty period, or period of Medicaid ineligibility based on the fair market value of the asset that was transferred (gifted). Since Indiana’s current penalty divisor is $6,682.00 (effective July 1, 2019 — this figure changes on July 1 each year), the transfer of a home with a fair market value of
The Indiana Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment (POST) Program is a new advance care planning tool designed for those individuals with a disease that is life-limiting or terminal. People with these life-limiting conditions experience diminished benefits from treatments and increased burden as their condition progresses. The Indiana POST form is a standardized form containing orders by a treating physician based on a patient’s preferences for end-of-life care. The POST form documents an individual’s treatment
Medicaid is a state and federal program that provides health coverage for those who meet certain eligibility guidelines. For people who are under age 65 and do require long term care in a nursing facility, eligibility is mostly based on income; therefore, these applications typically aren’t very difficult. People who need Medicaid to assist in covering long term care expenses, such as nursing home or home-based services, must meet more strict eligibility standards based on
Long term care insurance covers care generally not covered by health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. A number of considerations go into how much long term care insurance that you should buy. The average cost of a room in a nursing home is $70,000 per year and the average monthly base rate in an assisted-living facility in Indiana is $3,693. Home care costs can vary. One way to calculate how much to buy is to take the
To begin my series on advanced Medicaid planning strategies, I would like to address a question that I am often asked: How can I protect my assets if I’m not likely to enter a nursing home within the next 5 years? * The following is a discussion on the protection of non-real estate assets. To learn about advanced Medicaid planning strategies to protect your home and other real estate, please view my blog titled, “Medicaid Advanced