Why Not Hiring a Medicaid Attorney Can Cost You

Hiring a Medicaid attorney is very important if you or anyone in your family is currently depending upon Medicaid or may need to depend upon Medicaid in the future. Medicaid attorneys provide knowledgeable and personalized assistance to individuals and families who come to rely upon the benefits that Medicaid provides, especially in situations where someone must qualify for Medicaid for the Aged, Blind and Disabled. 

Parman & Easterday has extensive experience with the Medicaid planning process and our legal team can assist with all aspects of creating a Medicaid plan. A Medicaid plan may be necessary to ensure you become eligible for benefits or are able to retain benefits when you need them over the course of your life.

Give us a call to find out more about the Oklahoma City Medicaid program, called SoonerCare, and to find out why it can be very costly to you and your family if you have not made a Medicaid plan before coverage is needed.

Not Hiring a Medicaid Lawyer Could Cost You Everything

Not hiring a Medicaid lawyer could cost you if you have to go into a nursing home. If you have Medicare coverage, as many seniors do, when you need nursing home care, Medicare will only pay for skilled nursing home services. If you can get covered, which most people cannot because the range of covered services is so narrow, you typically will be covered only for a very short stay in a nursing home. Most private insurance, including Medicare advantage plans, have similar rules providing for only limited coverage for a brief duration.

Because of the limitations on when you are covered, you could be forced to pay privately for nursing home care if you require either temporary or permanent care. Since a nursing home can cost thousands monthly, you could lose your wealth very quickly. Once you have spent your savings, you could be forced to sell at least some of your property. Your whole legacy could be wiped out. This can often be avoided…if you hire a Medicaid lawyer.

If you have someone in your life who is disabled, you could also cause substantial financial loss if you give a gift to that person either during your lifetime or as an inheritance. Medicaid provides coverage for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled only if they have very limited resources. An inheritance or gift of money or property could result in the disabled person losing Medicaid benefits because their assets now exceed the allowable asset limit. This is an undesirable outcome because the person currently receiving Medicaid benefits to cover the costs of disability could have very high-cost medical needs.

How Can a Medicaid Lawyer Help You?

A Medicaid planning lawyer can help you prepare to qualify for Medicaid should you need nursing home care and can help protect access to Medicaid for a person already receiving benefits.

There are ways you can structure gifts or the ownership of assets so the money and property do not count as disqualifying assets that would make qualifying for Medicaid impossible. Creating a special needs trust to hold gifted or court-awarded assets is one  way you can protect the wealth given to the disabled person or that the disabled person receives from a court-ordered injury settlement. An irrevocable trust can also be helpful in keeping assets safe while allowing a senior or someone with a serious illness to qualify for Medicaid coverage.

Pre-planning for Medicaid qualification is best done well in advance of the time when you will need nursing home care or other costly care.  Typically you will need to incorporate strategic wealth transfers in the Medicaid planning process. These types of transfer can result in a temporary disqualification for Medicaid coverage if they are done within five years of the time when you require care.

Getting Help from An Oklahoma City Medicaid Lawyer

Parman & Easterday can assist you with all aspects of Medicaid planning, including making certain you have  plans in place to protect your assets and a disabled person’s access to benefits. To find out more about how Medicaid planning can be a key part of your asset protection plans, join us for a free seminar.

You can also give us a call today at (405) 843-6100 or (913) 385-9400 or contact us online for personalized assistance from an Oklahoma City Medicaid lawyer who will help you keep your wealth as safe as possible should costly medical services be needed.