Reply to Medicaid long term care eligibility requirements for Virginia (attorney recommendation?)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You don't need an attorney.  You can apply for her through the county program.  Long term care medicaid is a separate program from medicaid.  Just call the county and ask them.[/quote]

DP here. Yes, this can work, but it is not always a slam dunk. I worked with someone through my parents' county. She was good, but she wasn't a slam dunk. Our dad was denied twice, but made it through on third time because we hired a lawyer. So I learned a lot about what I needed to do but she wasn't foolproof in knowing what might be possible obstacles to a successful application.

And as per another PP, this is not an area for dabblers. I talked to many on the phone while searching for one to take on my dad's case. It was clear that I knew more than some of them - they wanted to set up all kinds of stuff even though I made it VERY clear that we were long past that phase. Finally got a great person who was worth every cent.[/quote]

Why were they denied.  We had no issues except proving the money was stolen, some I could prove, some not but they worked with us as the amount wasn’t much.  There is no reason to get an attorney.  [/quote]

Denied because the assets were in excess of the community spouse threshold. The assets were below the threshold on the paperwork included in the application, but the state claimed otherwise. Remember, this is all long distance and the state agent handling the app would not take calls. When we finally hired a lawyer, it all changed. I couldn't afford a third rejection.[/quote]

If your parents were over the limit, then it was appropriate you got denied till you did a spend down.  Why was this a surprise?[/quote]

“Over the limit” is a relative concept and precisely the reason anyone with a spouse remaining at home will be best advised by a competent attorney.

The nasty, selfish, stingy attitude I regularly see on DCUM toward elderly and sick people who have worked their lives away and denied themselves to build up something for the future and who then need a long term care facility they cannot possibly afford without leaving their spouse in penury is really appalling. We see nothing like this about the recipients of any other kind of public benefits. The elements of Medicaid planning are an integral part of the statutory and regulatory system. Medicaid planning is no different than tax planning and estate planning.

And, trust me, nobody with a realistic capacity for self pay would voluntarily put themselves or their loved ones in even a decent Medicaid facility. [/quote]

You mean rich people hiding assets.  Medicaid is supposed to be for someone who has no money.  Same with college financial aid.  There are no decent Medicaid facilities or you were very lucky.  I’d rather spend every dime I had to get my loved one the care they needed if that was an option after what we dealt with but we couldn’t even afford to hire an aid and I could not physically do it anymore after several years.  [/quote]

No one is “hiding” anything with legitimate Medicaid planning; that is the ill-informed myth (promulgated even by many ignorant lawyers) that (along with people’s own insecurity and delusion that any of the taxes they pay are earmarked for anything in particular) drives so much of the cruelty toward people with legitimate care needs.

Medicaid is not “supposed to be for someone who has no money.”  To the contrary, it is a complex statutory and regulatory scheme, and its benefits belong to anyone who qualifies under the specifics of that scheme, not some bigoted, distorted misapprehension thereof.

“College Financial Aid” certainly has never been for people with no money. Colleges regularly use vast discounts masquerading as “aid” to buy the business of attractive applicants who likely would choose a different school if the discount was not offered.

No argument that many Medicaid facilities are pretty poor quality. And the full pay facilities often are not much better.[/quote]

There's not really such a thing as a "Medicaid facility" vs. a "private pay facility." The vast majority of nursing homes have Medicaid beds. You can private pay at any nursing home that accepts Medicaid, and many Medicaid recipients do before they qualify for Medicaid.[/quote]

First of all, your reference to “the vast majority” admits that there are some places not included.

Secondly, whether you call it a “facility” or a “bed,” private pay people and even Medicare people get treated better than Medicaid people, as a general rule. An example would be in a facility with predominately double occupancy, Medicaid patients somehow magically end up three to a room. [/quote]

The actual staff don’t know whose on mecicaid and Medicare is rehab so a different part of most facilities.  [/quote]

If you think the “actual staff” don’t know everything going on the facility and then some, you don’t know much about nursing homes. And even if they don’t, the room assignment people certainly do, and act accordingly. [/quote]

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