text: Medicaid Planning | Medicaid Eligibility | Financial Assistance
  The elder law attorneys at ElderLawLexington - McClelland & Associates, PLLC, provide a broad range of elder law services including Medicaid planning for people throughout Kentucky. Our Medicaid planning attorneys assist individuals and families with the complexities of Medicaid laws and rules. It is never too late to plan.
  The laws surrounding Medicaid eligibility are complex. That's why you should consult an experienced and knowledgeable Medicaid planning attorney at ElderLawLexington to address issues and provide you with a comprehensive strategy tailored to your individual situation. The Medicaid planning process involves developing a plan to reallocate your assets in such a way that Medicaid will not take them into consideration when determining your eligibility for coverage.
  Medicaid has become the single largest provider of financial assistance for nursing home residents in the United States. Long-term care is so expensive that most families exhaust their hard-earned life savings within one or two years of a family member moving into a nursing home. Medicaid planning involves protecting assets against the cost of long-term care. There are two main forms of Medicaid planning: long term planning and Medicaid crisis planning.
  The Medicaid planning attorneys at ElderLawLexington help clients remain independent for as long as possible, while taking steps to protect their life savings in the event of incapacity and the need for long-term care. We also help clients obtain assistance from Medicaid to pay for long-term care. The high cost of long-term care has made planning a critically important issue for most middle class seniors and their families. Far too often, seniors wait until they fall ill and require care before seeking the assistance of an attorney. Unfortunately, in waiting for a crisis, seniors and their caregivers encounter more hurdles for qualification and exorbitant levels of stress during an already difficult time.
  Medicaid covers physicians' services, hospital care, supplies and other necessary services once a person has been made eligible for the program. It also pays for the expenses of long-term care in a nursing home. Medicare does not pay for long-term care in a nursing home. The Medicaid program is administered independently in each state. While the basic eligibility standards are the same throughout the United States, there are significant differences from state to state. Eligibility is based upon the amount of assets a person has along with the income that the person receives.
  Even if you haven't taken time to plan for Medicaid eligibility, there are a number of tools to obtain eligibility. ElderLawLexington routinely assists clients who are just starting the process and need to qualify immediately. We work with our clients to properly complete the Medicaid application in a meaningful way which won't waste your hard earned assets but instead benefit your loved ones for years to come. The most common Medicaid concern is whether an individual must spend down all of their assets in order to qualify for Medicaid. People have fears of losing their homes and life savings paying for the costs of long-term care. While Medicaid rules are restrictive and complex, it is possible to obtain Medicaid eligibility while preserving assets. The sooner an individual begins with Medicaid planning, more assets can be preserved. There are several tools available in Medicaid planning such as gifting, trusts, spent down, long-term care insurance, annuities, promissory notes or a combination of these options. Using an inexperienced VA benefits attorney to create a Medicaid plan can result in mistakes and preclude Medicaid eligibility. The experienced elder law attorneys at ElderLawLexington know how to implement these tools as part of a comprehensive plan designed to qualify an individual for Medicaid while protecting assets from the cost of long-term care.
  The benefits of Medicaid planning are as follows:
  Preserve the estate for the "community spouse"
  Optimize healthcare options in a nursing home or other care
  Preserve assets and long-term savings
  Utilize cost-effective options
  Access to funds to provide for needs not covered by Medicaid
  ElderLawLexington - McClelland & Associates, PLLC, has the experience and knowledge to help you avoid the financial ruin associated with the high cost of long-term care. Contact us at (859) 543-0061 to learn more about the issues surrounding Medicaid eligibility and to begin the planning and Medicaid application process.