[responsive_vid] Do you need an attorney to help you file an application for Medicaid? Sometimes the answer is a clear “yes,” a clear “no” and “maybe.” Let’s talk briefly about these and some of the pitfalls and traps for the unwary.
A Michigan Medicaid application looks deceptively simple. It is only four pages long. The trap comes in the proof of every item that is written. The Michigan Department of Human Services does not take the applicant’s word for anything. You must prove everything. For example you will need a birth certificate for date of birth, social security card for the number, the “award letter” to state the amount of the monthly check and Medicare card to prove coverage. There is much more.
The application must disclose the applicant’s complete financial status. This includes the obvious such as bank accounts, CDs, safe deposit box contents, savings bonds, annuities and IRAs. There are what we might call “hidden assets” such as cash value of a life insurance policy or stock ownership in the company. The ownership and value of all of these must be proven and if spent then the amount received and what it was spent on must be proven by paper. One of the indicators for hiring an attorney is if you are not sure of the applicant’s financial state. This often happens when a parent is in a nursing home and the children, who are handling the application, do not know their parent’s financial affairs. It is better to have an attorney do it right the first time than risk a denial with the possibility of unpaid nursing home bills. Some nursing homes sue children who do not get Medicaid to pay the entire bill.
Failure to have paper proof for every statement is cause for application denial.
There are some times when you can be sure you don’t “need” an attorney to handle the application. For example you have have handled all a parent’s finances for years and are confident that everything is spent down. Of course, even in this case you could hire an attorney for the convenience of not having to deal with the Medicaid office.
One large area of “Yes, you need an attorney” is the realm of having a spouse at home. If the couple has more than $25,000 in savings the elder law attorney can help the at home spouse retain the savings for his or her future needs. Your attorney will save you much more than you spend plus you will have the convenience of not dealing with the Medicaid office.
Another situation of “Yes, you need an attorney” is when the applicant’s financial affairs are complicated. He or she may own many parcels of real estate, may have many accounts at banks and credit unions. The Medicaid office will require proof of how much was in each account and where the funds went. The extra real estate may need asset protection strategies to save it.
And for now, the final category of “Yes, you need an attorney” is when there is a large amount of money that will have to be spent down. An attorney can always help you save a portion of countable assets.
With the average monthly cost of a nursing home near $8,000 per month, the stakes are sky high. It is only prudent and good sense to have an experienced elder law attorney review a Medicaid application be fore filing even if there is no money to save – you don’t want to be stuck with a huge bill.
I think you can see from the above why we say we “save you money, you don’t have to deal with bureaucratic hassle when you least need it and we give you peace of mind.
Give us a call at 248-356-3500. We’re friendly and helpful <G>
Jim