Virginia Elder Law Services
Elder law is another aspect of estate planning, focusing primarily
on the needs of families and individuals as they age. Issues of
aging include senior housing and home care, long-term (or nursing
home) care, guardianships and health care documents, and Medicare,
and Virginia Medicaid..
As our population ages, more and more of us
confront elder law-related issues, whether for ourselves or our parents.
One of the most pressing issues is long-term nursing home care, which
usually is not covered by traditional health insurance. Depending on
where you live and the level of care needed, nursing home care can cost
from $35,000 to $150,000 a year. The average stay is slightly more than
three years. Most people end up paying for nursing home care until their
personal (or family) assets are depleted, then they may qualify for
Medicaid to pick up the cost.
Careful planning, however, can help protect your
assets, whether for your spouse or for your children. The
belt-and-suspenders approach is to purchase long-term care insurance
while you are healthy enough to qualify, and to make sure you receive
the benefits to which you are entitled under Medicare and Medicaid.
Veterans (and their single surviving spouses) also may seek benefits
from the Veterans Administration.
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Clients are frequently confused over the
differences between Medicare and Medicaid. Though their names are
very similar, the programs are quite different. Medicare is an
entitlement program, a federal health insurance program in which
most people enroll when they turn 65 years old. There are no
financial qualification rules. Medicare has two primary parts: Part
A and Part B.
Medicare Part A covers in-hospital care, extended care
after a hospital stay, some home health care services, and hospice
services. The rules for nursing home coverage are very strict and,
in fact, Medicare pays for less than 9 percent of nursing home care
in this country.
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Medicaid, is a joint federal-state program,
Subject to certain federal requirements, each
state implements its own regulations on how the program is managed.
Medicaid is not an entitlement program like Medicare, but rather
a form of welfare. Medicaid eligibility is determined after the proper application is
submitted to the state. There are many Medicaid insurance programs
available in Michigan, from basic medical coverage to nursing home
programs. An
overview of
Virginia Long-Term Care Medicaid programs is available online.
The Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) also publishes a helpful
brochure overview of long-term care options.
Download "A
Guide for Long-Term Care Services in Virginia." (Adobe Acrobat Reader
required, click here to get it
for free.)
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If you or your loved one is not in immediate
need for long-term care assistance, you may be able to distribute or
protect assets now so that when the long-term care assistance is needed,
the qualification process can go quickly. It is impossible to give
general guidelines for Medicaid planning because every client's case is
different. Remember, you cannot simply "give away" assets to impoverish
yourself and thereby qualify for Medicaid. There are stringent rules and
penalties prohibiting this, which is why most traditional "revocable"
trust planning will not help with pre-Medicaid planning.
An "irrevocable" trust, however, is a trust that cannot
be changed after it is created. Income-producing assets may be placed in
an income-only irrevocable trust, and the income may be paid to you for
life. Properly funded and managed, after five years, principal will be
an unavailable asset for Medicaid purposes and will be preserved for
your family. This is one strategy to protect certain
assets while still providing the income from those assets. (However, if
you require nursing home care, the trust income will be available
to pay for your care.)
For a no-cost phone consultation, feel free to call us at (757) 490-3500 or fill out this form.
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