We just won another Medical Assistance appeal issue. In this case, Medical Assitance was initially denied for nursing home benefits and the son of the Medical Assistance applicant was handed an invoice from the nursing home for over $100,000. Needless to say, he was upset. We were able to successfully argue that that the transactions…
The issue of whether or not an IRA asset is a countable asset is an interesting issue from a Maryland Medical Assistance perspective. For individuals and their spouses, when an ill spouse goes into a nursing home and reviews the issue of applying for Medical Assistance for the ill spouse, the issue that routinely comes…
Medicaid Spousal Impoverishment Figures for 2012 The new minimum community spouse resource allowance (CSRA) is $22,728, and the new maximum CSRA is $113,640. The new maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance is $2,841. The minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance remains $1,838.75. This has yet to be implemented for Maryland. It is expected to come out shortly. It is unclear…
According to the newly published survey by Metlife, the average cost of long term care continues to rise. According to the report the average room nursing home rates rose nationwide by 4.4 percent to $87,235 a year or $239 a day, while assisted living facility costs jumped 5.6 percent on average to $41,724 a year…
A good portion of our clients engaged in virtually no planning (before they came to our office) when faced with a parent or loved one entering a nursing home. Even in this late stage of the game, there are plenty of opportunities to protect a parent’s or loved ones’ assets from nursing home related costs. …
Recent Tax Court Decision Clarifies When Long-Term Care Expenses are Deductible There is no question that long-term care can be very expensive (both assisted living and nursing home level of care). However, many of these long-term care expenses can be deducted the parent’s income tax return as a medical expense deduction. A recent U.S. Tax Court…
Metlife recently released their study confirming that nursing and assisted living rates increased nationwide between 2009 and 2010. For Maryland, in the Baltimore region nursing home costs for semi-private rooms ranged from $6,200/month to $8,742/month. Nursing home costs for private rooms ranged from $6,510/month to $11,005/month. Statewide, assisted living costs in 2010 ranged from $2,800/month…
Use of Medicaid Recipient’s Income to Pay Existing Nursing Home Expenses The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released a critical Medical Assistance eligibility update (MR 154). The changes in this update are profound. It now allows a nursing home Medical Assistance recipient to use her income to pay for nursing home related expenses (up…