How Much Does a Lawyer Charge to Handle a Nursing Home Medicaid Application?
(Note “we” in this article refers to Elder Law attorneys. Want a good one? Call us at (248) 356-3500 for a referral.)
Consider the situation: Your spouse is in the nursing home and the bill is over $12,000 a month. Medicaid will pay that bill as soon you have “spent down” enough money to be eligible. In 2026 your spouse will be allowed $9,660. You will be allowed your “Community Spouse Resource Allowance” which is half of the countable assets with a minimum of $31,584 and a maximum of $162,660. So if you had $300,000 in savings, you would be allowed $150,000, your spouse $9,660 your and your “spend down” would be $140,340. Note that in Michigan the asset allowances for the applicant and spouse are adjusted annually for inflation.
How can a lawyer help?
ALL of your life-savings can be spent or saved as you wish. And note attorney fees are part of your “spend down.” Your Elder Law attorney will handle all details needed to successfully apply for Medicaid, will complete the application from information you provide, will make sure nothing is left out and will handle all communication with the Department of Health and Human Services. You will not have to go to or speak to anybody at the Department.
Here are some problems we have seen. The nursing home tells you need to go to the probate court file a petition to be your spouse’s guardian. That is not true your spouse has a durable power of attorney that allows you as the “agent” to engage in “Medicaid planning.” You must supply “documentation” proving everything you write down. You must provide documentation of all assets. You may be required to produce and supply all financial records for the prior five years. It takes many families months to get a good application in. It goes like this. You get the Medicaid application form the nursing home. Four weeks later the Medicaid worker contacts you by mail, delivered to the nursing home. You find it in the drawer next to the bed. You happened to find it, nobody told you it came last week. (Sometimes it is not this quick, because the Medicaid Department has been losing applications!) The worker asks for more information. It might be about life insurance policies, or other “unknown” assets. It takes you two weeks to get the information. A week later the worker says “not good enough.” She denies the application and you have to re-file.
A good Elder law attorney knows every way to save your money. You will not have to sell everything you have. You will not be destitute. Your attorney will complete and file the application as soon as possible and may be able to get you three months retroactive coverage. At the 2026 state average nursing home cost of $12,216.30 per month that is worth almost $37,000. In other words your attorney does not cost you. Your attorney saves you thousands of dollars.
Not everybody needs an Elder Law attorney to file the application.
An applicant who has no property but a small savings account of $9,660 or less should have a simple application with no or very little spend down. Others who have a bit more may pay for a complete funeral plan and the spouse keeps the remainder. One consultation with an Elder Law attorney may be enough for you to confidently file the application. This too is a service Elder Law attorneys gladly provide.
Hope this article helped you.
All the best,
Jim