Medicaid Planning first and foremost, at least for The Smith Law Firm, making sure that we get the best possible care for a loved one should they need nursing home or other care. Secondly, it is acquiring that care in the most cost-effective manner.

Medicaid Planning 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. If you need nursing home care is needed in the future, you will then qualify to have Medicaid pay for the cost of care, rather than depleting your own resources to cover these costs.

Medicaid planning is a means of working within all applicable laws to set aside savings for the benefit of nursing home residents who will otherwise be economically devastated by the exorbitant cost of private nursing home care. By preserving savings, implementation of a Medicaid plan allows the resident continued access to the many things not otherwise covered by nursing home Medicaid. For example, items not within the scope of Medicaid coverage include a private room (often medically necessary for residents with behavioral issues arising from advanced dementia), companion caregivers (to supplement the personal care provided by overworked nursing home staff), geriatric care manager services, eyeglasses, dentures, hearing aids, beauty shop visits, cable television, telephone line, and all other personal belongings.