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Creating a Strong Plan for a Long Life
New York State law allows for multiple ways to protect one’s savings and assets to pay for nursing home and other long-term care costs. Even if a person doesn’t qualify for long-term care insurance or is already in a nursing home – it’s never too late to put a plan in place.
People are living longer, and while most would prefer not to enter a nursing home, it’s imperative to plan in the event one needs a long-term care solution.
At Piede Law, an Elder Law plan seeks to (1) ensure quality care for the person or couple being planned for, and (2) protect their assets from long-term care costs.
Advance Asset Protection Planning
is the art of “building walls” around a person’s assets, making them unavailable to the government and nursing homes before a long-term care need arises. This often involves establishing trusts and updating wills or other estate planning documents.
Medicaid Crisis Planning
is planning once a skilled nursing need already exists. We help facilitate placement into a facility and prepare a Medicaid application with the goal of having the nursing home bill (generally around $16,000 per month) be paid by the government rather than by our clients.
It is so important to note that we do not plan that a person enters a nursing home. Rather, we plan for what will happen if a person enters a nursing home. There are also many options available for in-home care that we discuss with our clients. A nursing home is viewed as a last resort.
Our clients are often pleasantly surprised to learn how much can be protected through comprehensive Elder Law planning. New York is an incredibly generous state when it comes to helping seniors pay for long-term care and may be the most generous state in the nation.
Medicaid Planning
Our goal is to help clients navigate this complicated system. We’ll devise a plan that will provide peace of mind and protect them and their assets, all while allowing them to take full advantage of the social programs available to them.
Medicaid is a joint Federal and State program where an applicant must demonstrate financial need in order to qualify. In addition to providing services to the poor, it is also designed to prevent seniors and families from becoming impoverished from the cost of long-term care. In New York State, the average nursing home costs between $13,000 and $17,000 per month (an estimated $156,000 to $204,000 per year.)
Medicaid laws are constantly changing and the concept of “spend down”–which refers to reducing assets and transferring funds to the permitted level of resources to qualify–can be confusing. Assets would include items like cars, furniture and clothing, and real estate. Specific exceptions and protections do exist, so planning ahead with expert counsel can be of great help in preserving what is important