Medicaid Planning

Going into a nursing home is something that no one wants to talk about, but the reality is that most people over sixty-five (65) will end up needing long-term nursing home care one day. Life expectancy has more than doubled this century and, if you make it to sixty-five (65), if you’re a man, you’re likely to live to eighty-one (81), and if you’re a woman you’re likely to live to eighty-four (84). As a result, nearly one out of every two women and one out of every four men will find themselves needing nursing home care at some point in their lives.

Unfortunately, Medicare does not pay for nursing home costs. With nursing home costs averaging almost $6,000.00 a month in Michigan, two (2) out of three (3) Michigan families will run out of money within the first year when faced with having a loved one incur a prolonged nursing home stay.

While Medicare won’t pay for nursing home costs, Medicaid will. Most people believe that they have to deplete all of their assets “spending down” all of their available cash resources in order to become eligible for Medicaid funding for nursing home care. This is not true. Attorneys at the Law Offices of Joseph T. Barberi can work with families and utilize legal techniques and strategies to allow families to protect their assets and still have a loved one be covered by Medicaid when it comes to nursing home costs. The law allows for many options to protect assets, but individuals have to carefully plan to take advantage of these options. It is critical to have the assistance of legal expertise when navigating these complicated waters.

The legal staff at our firm can help people even if a loved one is already in a crisis situation, and has already been admitted or is about to be admitted to a nursing home. Because our firm focuses on Medicaid planning, we have legal strategies available to decide rather quickly if our firm can be of help, and if we can protect some of a family’s assets, even though a loved one is already in need of nursing home care.

For more information on how our firm can partner with families, potential clients should consider attending one of our asset protection information meetings, or contact our firm and schedule a personal appointment with one of our planning experts.

Protecting Assets From Nursing Home Costs

Free information meetings are regularly scheduled for persons interested in learning about our firm’s partnership program to help families preserve assets from being taken to pay for a loved one’s nursing home costs. Call to reserve your spot as spaces for each meeting are limited:

• May 13, 2007
• May 30, 2007
• June 11, 2007
• June 25, 2007
• Contact Us

Persons wishing to schedule a private meeting with an asset protection specialist, either a Paralegal, or an attorney, can also schedule a private, one-hour consultation for $150.00.

Nursing home costs have almost doubled over the last four (4) years. In the last two (2) years, significant changes in the laws and rules for Medicaid eligibility have occurred. Pending legislation in Michigan will allow the State of Michigan to place liens on homes to recover monies spent through the State’s Medicaid program for nursing home costs. Based on these facts, our law firm has embarked on an aggressive educational program to reach out to seniors in need of innovative thinking to create customized estate plans to preserve family assets from being depleted to pay for nursing home care.

New rules “looking back” sixty (60) months, to ascertain whether the potential nursing home recipient has made a “divestment” – thereby disqualifying him or her from Medicaid coverage for nursing home costs, are expected to go into effect this year. Presently, the “look back” period is thirty-six (36) months. Our firm is entering into agreements with families to partnership with them for a minimum of three (3) years to help protect as many family assets as possible, while at the same time making a recipient eligible to receive Medicaid funding for nursing home costs. We are calling this our “Partnership Program to Preserve Assets for Families.” By attending one of our free information meetings, individuals can learn whether we can help them protect the savings that they have worked a lifetime to build.