It depends on the state rules around retroactive benefits. Some states allow Medicaid recipients to receive retroactive benefits for up to three months before the date of the application. Other states have limited retroactive benefits. To find out the rules in your...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) advises you to apply for retirement benefits three months before you want your benefits to begin. And even if you have no plans to receive retirement benefits, you should still sign-up for Medicare three months before age 65. ...

Although people are willing to voluntarily care for a parent or loved one without any promise of compensation, entering into a caregiver contract (also called personal service or personal care agreement) with a family member can have many benefits. It rewards the...

Rejecting an attorney’s assessment of a Medicaid applicant’s competence, a Connecticut appeals court holds that because the applicant’s estate did not prove he was incompetent and unable to withdraw funds from his revocable trust, the trust was an available asset and...

A trust is a legal arrangement through which one person (or an institution, such as a bank or law firm), called a "trustee," holds legal title to property for another person, called a "beneficiary." The rules or instructions under which the trustee operates are set...

Traditionally, Medicaid has paid for long-term care in a nursing home, but because most individuals would rather be cared for at home and home care is cheaper, all 50 states now have Medicaid programs that offer at least some home care. In some states, even family...

Qualifying for Medicare hardly means free health care -- there are still premiums and deductibles. However, people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid (called “dual eligibility”) receive help paying their out-of-pocket costs. Medicare is a federal program...

ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts offer people with disabilities a great, tax-free way to accumulate money without jeopardizing their qualifications for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and other means-tested programs. Withdrawals are tax-free as...

In an alarming number of instances, private Medicare Advantage plans are denying coverage for medical services that would be covered under original Medicare, according to a federal investigation.  These denials are likely preventing or delaying medically necessary...

Yes. A revocable trust for both tax and Medicaid purposes is treated as if the property it holds is in the name of the grantor, which means the assets in the trust can put an applicant over the Medicaid asset limit. If you make the trust irrevocable, Medicaid will...

Sports fans with season tickets may want their families to enjoy the tickets after they are gone, but passing on these tickets may not be simple. Getting season tickets to your favorite sport is not always an easy task. Season tickets for some teams can cost a lot of...

The maximum amount that can be contributed each year to an ABLE account for a person with disabilities rose $1,000 to $16,000 on January 1, 2022.  The figure, which is tied to the inflation-adjusted value of the IRS’s gift tax exclusion, had been stuck at $15,000...

For many Medicaid applicants, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are one of their biggest assets. If you do not plan properly, IRAs can count as an available asset and affect Medicaid eligibility. Medicaid applicants can have only a small amount of assets in order...

It depends on the state. Some states don’t exempt IRAs even when they are in payout status, so the IRA will have to be spent down before qualifying for Medicaid benefits. But for those states that exempt IRAs, the question is whether the state’s estate recovery rules...

If you apply for long-term care assistance through Medicaid and your application is denied, it may feel hopeless. The good news is that you can appeal the decision. Medicaid is a program for low-income individuals, so it has strict income and asset eligibility...