As we grow older, we must face the fact that we may require Medicaid to help pay for long-term care. Expenses related to long-term care services can range from nursing home costs to in-home assisted living services, all of which are quite expensive.
You’ve lived a long life and paid your dues, so you have earned these benefits. However, it’s not always easy to ‘qualify’ to get what you need. Obtaining Assisted Living Medicaid benefits can be very complicated and usually require an elder law attorney to maximum assistance.
When it comes to qualifying for Medicaid, people often get incorrect advice, which may have unintended repercussions when followed. For example, some people think you should not have any assets in your name when applying for Medicaid. However, the truth is that if you give everything away, you may end up delaying when you qualify. Moreover, the government may still attribute those assets given away to you when calculating your benefits.
We specialize in the entire process of Medicaid Planning in Maryland to ensure you obtain the assistance you need in a timely and efficient manner.
There are two kinds of Medicaid Planning that you are likely to face, and we can help you with both of them — Crisis Planning and Proactive Planning. Also, we provide legal services to help you with your Medicaid Application.
Suppose you are young and just starting on life’s road, or whether you are just reaching the age of retirement. The last thing you may be thinking about is planning for tomorrow. Especially one where you end up needing assisted living, require long-term care for a medical condition, or require a nursing home’s services. The reality is that no matter what age you are, no one wants to think of these things. We all want to believe that we will live happy and healthy forever.
But the cold hard truth is that these things happen, and it’s better to take steps to prepare for these unfortunate events than to be stuck in a crisis situation. Skilled professional care is expensive – at the current rates, a year in a nursing home could exceed $153,000 (2021 figures).
If you don’t have a plan in place, this money may have to come from your hard-earned savings. How many people have you heard about who filed bankruptcy because of their or a loved one’s medical expense?
This is where Proactive Planning, also called Pre-Crisis Planning, is essential.
Medicaid Planning in Maryland Takes Experience
The Law Office of Raymond E. Brown focuses on the laws and regulations related to long-term care and Medicaid benefits. With our assistance, we can help you create a comprehensive asset protection plan. This ensures that you are in control of your financial and personal affairs if you or a loved one requires nursing home care or becomes disabled.
We understand that planning for medical emergencies or the need for long-term care is not everyone’s favorite topic. But we work hard to make the process easy and give you peace of mind, knowing that your assets and legacy are protected.
Best laid plans are often thrown out when the future arrives with an unexpected medical emergency that requires long-term care. No matter how much planning and preparation you do for your future, it’s impossible to consider every possibility.
A Medicaid Crisis occurs when someone is about to be, or already has been, admitted to a nursing home and has been informed that they don’t qualify for Medicaid. Disqualification often occurs because applicants are viewed as having too many financial assets. Assets that government feels the individual must use to pay for the care being sought–before receiving government aid.
The reality is people don’t have the right information on how to shelter their assets under the complex rules, regulations, requirements, and laws that govern eligibility for Medicaid. This is why you should seek an Estate Planning or Elder Law Attorney’s help to help you. It is their area of concentration. They have studied and prepared ways to legally preserve your assets and income while still qualifying for Medicaid assistance.
Here is where we can help you. We will help you receive the benefits you need, even if it’s a crisis.
For better, or worse life has been an incredible experience up to this point, and the last thing you want is to lose your life’s savings to a nursing home. You owe it to yourself to speak to someone who understands the rules that apply to Medicaid. Someone that can provide maximum asset protection for the assets you’ve earned through years of hard work.
Medicaid Planning in Maryland Takes Experience
If you or a loved one faces a Medicaid Crisis, call us BEFORE handling your valuable assets or submitting your application for Medicaid assistance.
We will work hard to get the benefits you need while protecting your hard-earned savings.
When it comes to applying for Medicaid, it is a complex process that can be confusing and frustrating. Medicaid has many different programs, each with its own eligibility rules and steps to apply. Regardless of what type of benefits you are seeking, all Medicaid applications require extensive personal documentation and detailed income proof. And some programs will require more documentation such as proof of assets, including sixty months of records for those assets.
We advise you on available benefits, the process required to obtain them, and knowledge regarding the law provisions that protect your family assets.
To be upfront, you are not legally required to have an elder law attorney apply for Medicaid benefits on your behalf. You can prepare the application yourself. There are some agencies and programs that offer to submit the application for free or for a small fee.
However, it would be best to use caution when accepting this assistance because the bottom line is that you will get what you pay for. These agencies and entities are not permitted to give you any legal advice or even advise you of your rights. Moreover, they aren’t allowed to help you implement legal strategies that may protect your assets. Without the assistance of someone with thorough knowledge of elder law pertaining to Medicaid, you could potentially be exposing yourself and your family to significant financial risk.
Most Bar Associations agree that failing to use an Elder Law Attorney could expose you to the following risks:
- Failure to be fully informed of spousal rights;
- Failure to be informed of opportunities for asset protection;
- Incomplete or inaccurate application submission;
- Denial of application due to failure to provide information;
- Failure to be informed of consequences of prior actions;
- Imposition of a penalty period for which mitigation strategies could have been implemented;
- Failure to have a dedicated advocate working with you through the process.
Applying for Medicaid should not be left to chance because the results could significantly impact your financial future. This is why your Medicaid application should be entrusted to experienced attorneys, such as the team at The Law Office of Raymond E. Brown, LLC.
We will walk through the process with you step-by-step and gather all the necessary data and documents. We will also work with the Department of Social Services to resolve any issues that come along the way. We will do everything in our power to help your application get successfully approved.
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