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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]someone asked about home equity.  In VA and - I believe - a lot of other states home equity isn't a factor for eligibility (perhaps there's a threshold?).  But the state will come after that equity after the medicaid beneficiary dies.[/quote]

I'm not familiar with this. My dad went into a SNF first after a fall and rehab was unsuccessful. We had to spend down the assets and my mom was able to remain in the home as as the "community spouse." Once our mom moved into a SNF, we spent down the remaining assets and put the house on the market. We were lucky - the housing market had been in a prolonged downturn after the 2008 financial crisis. It had just started to pick up about six months earlier, however, and it was in an area where young parents were looking for homes. We then spent those assets down and began the Medicaid application in the waning months. [/quote]

https://www.medicaidplanningassistance.org/medicaid-eligibility-virginia/

"  While one’s home is usually exempt from Medicaid’s asset limit, it is not exempt from Medicaid’s estate recovery program. Following a long-term care Medicaid beneficiary’s death, Virginia’s Medicaid agency attempts reimbursement of care costs through whatever estate of the deceased still remains. This is often the home. Without proper planning strategies in place, the home will be used to reimburse Medicaid for providing care rather than going to family as inheritance. "[/quote]

Well, that's not what we did. We didn't try to hide the asset. We sold it and used the proceeds to cover our mom's care until she qualified for Medicaid. So yeah, the state will come after the house if it wasn't used during private pay.

Look, I think this is complicated for a lot of reasons, especially when an adult child has given up their job, moved into the family home, and took care of the parents, only to be later forced out when the state seizes the home to reimburse for care costs. That really sucks to be perfectly blunt as this often happens to women, who are usually of an age where it is difficult to return to the work force.

The people who can usually protect these kinds of assets are people who can afford lawyers, estate planning, etc. Most people who end up in long-term care Medicaid do not have the resources to do that. It also reminds me of the kids I knew in HS/college with parents who hid or shielded assets and they were receiving better financial aid than me while living in their 4 BR/3 BA house in a nice suburb while we were in our rickety 3 BR/1 BA farmhouse with 6 kids. I worked in the business office so I knew every single student's family income/status. This wasn't hard to figure out.[/quote]

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