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When Does Income Become a Resource?

Rich Shea — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:46:22 +0000

What happens to income after you receive it? As we have covered in other articles Texas Medicaid has very specific rules for the treatment of income and the treatment of assets. Therefore, it is critical your Houston Medicaid Attorney understands when property is labeled as income and when it is labeled as a resource.

The General Rule of Income for Texas Medicaid

Income is anything a person receives in cash or in kind that can be used to meet the person’s needs for food and shelter. It is the receipt of any property or service a person can apply, either directly or by sale or conversion, to meet basic needs for food and shelter. Income is normally counted on a monthly basis.

Is Income Always Treated as Income?

No. The legal definition of income for Texas Medicaid eligibility only applies for a limited time. For example, if you receive pension checks that you do not spend but rather deposit into a separate bank account where nothing else goes; is that account treated as income because that is all that was deposited into it? Unfortunately no, property loses its label as income through the passage of time, not through how it is used.

For Texas Medicaid the receipt of a payment – in the form of cash, property, or service – is income in the month of receipt and a resource as of 12:01 a.m. on the first day of the month after receipt. If you receive a payment on April 26th the payment may be treated as income only until 12:01 a.m. on May 1st.

Sort Out Income and Resources

Speak with a Woodlands Medicaid Attorney today if you need help sorting out what property is treated as income and what property is treated as a resource for Texas Medicaid eligibility. The wrong identification of property can cost your family thousands of dollars in unpaid nursing home bills while the mistakes are remedied.

TexasTitle19.com is your connection to an experienced Houston Medicaid Attorney who can help you find the right nursing home, get the best care, and pay for it all without going broke. We are currently focused on Harris and Montgomery Counties, including the areas of Houston, Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Tomball, Humble, and Katy. We also provide consulting services throughout all of Texas.

The Spousal Assessment of Assets

Rich Shea — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:19:15 +0000

How will you be able to survive if your spouse needs expensive nursing home care? I hear this question a lot from families facing an unexpected nursing home placement. Unfortunately some families that contact me have already spent more of their own funds than they need to before qualifying for Texas Medicaid nursing home benefits. For the families that contact me early enough to protect assets for the healthy spouse or parent the process all begins with something called the “Spousal Assessment.”

The Spousal Assessment for Texas Medicaid is rather straightforward. It is a snapshot of a married couple’s combined countable resources. This snapshot is the starting point for determining the amount of assets the spouse at home will be able to keep while the spouse in the nursing home pursues Medicaid eligibility. The Spousal Protected Resource Amount is later determined from this initial assessment which many people do not even understand is taking place behind the scenes.

When Can You Initiate a Spousal Assessment

The request and assessment may be made any time from the beginning of the continuous period in an institutional setting to the date of application for Medicaid. Ordinarily this is handled by the Woodlands Medicaid Attorney handling the application for the family.

If you do not have a Woodlands Medicaid Attorney representing you then the couple must provide information on their resources and verification as required by HHSC. If the couple does not provide the verification within the time frame requested by HHSC, HHSC does not complete the assessment and takes no further action = no Medicaid benefits.

When is the Assessment Date

The couple’s combined countable resources are assessed as of 12:01 a.m. on the first day of the month in which the first continuous period in an institutional setting began. When determining the first day of the month in an institutional setting for the Spousal Protected Resource Amount, HHSC may count days the person spent in a hospital if the person admits directly from the hospital to an institutional setting. After the continuous period begins, hospital stays and therapeutic home visits are not considered as breaks in the 30-consecutive-day period.

Are You Giving Away Assets You Can Keep?

The Spousal Assessment procedure is a reminder of how important it is to understand the legal rights you have when faced with a nursing home situation. As I mentioned at the beginning, some families do not contact me until it is too late and they have already spent more than they need to. In situations like that, the family voluntarily gave up assets the healthy spouse was entitled to and it can make surviving that much more difficult for the healthy spouse when they are left with less assets than the law allowed them to keep. Don’t make the same mistake. Speak with a Texas Medicaid Attorney today to protect your rights and property.

Texas Medicaid Eligibility for 2010

Rich Shea — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:00:26 +0000

Certain numbers used to determine eligibility for Texas Medicaid benefits are subject to change every January 1st. This year there were not many changes. Unfortunately the minimum and maximum Community Spousal Protected Resource Amounts remained the same. The current figures are listed below.

Income Limit for an Individual: $2,022/month

Income Limit for a Couple: $4,044/month

Resource Limit for an Individual: $2,000

Resource Limit for a Couple: $3,000

Home equity is limited to $500,000

Minimum Community Spousal Protected Amount: $21,912

Maximum Community Spousal Protected Resource Amount: $109,560

How Does this Impact Your Family?

If your loved one’s income or assets exceed the values listed above do not give up. A Houston Medicaid Attorney can help you establish Medicaid eligibility through proven techniques while protecting everything your family is entitled to protect. Remember, only you can protect your rights and property. The nursing home and the DADS are not responsible for helping you with asset protection. Call (832) 426-3913 to get started today.

It Counts: Individual Retirement Accounts

Rich Shea — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:24:47 +0000

Retirement accounts can cause a lot of confusion when planning for Texas Medicaid eligibility. This is in large part due to the many different kinds of retirement accounts out there. Today we are going to look at one very common kind of retirement account, the individual retirement account, or IRA. This includes the traditional IRA and the Roth IRA. Many families saved funds in these accounts during their lifetime, but what happens to them when the owner of the account or their spouse needs Medicaid nursing home benefits?

§358.435(d) — The resource value of a time deposit is the net amount due after penalties are imposed for early withdrawal. If the funds cannot be withdrawn before maturity, the time deposit is not a resource until it matures. Time deposits include but are not limited to certificates of deposit, savings certificates, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs).

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission takes the approach that the availability of funds is the controlling factor in determining whether a time deposit such as an IRA is a resource. They examine the terms of the account to determine when the funds can be withdrawn and which penalties to impose. An early withdrawal penalty does not change the HHSC’s view that the account is still a counted resource. The penalties for withdrawal will be subtracted from the total value to determine its resource value.

Put simply, the balance of the retirement account counts as a resource for the purpose of determining eligibility. You may have to face penalties and other negative consequences, but the bottom line is if you can get the funds out of the account under any circumstances, then it counts.

Evidence Needed

If the Texas Medicaid applicant or their spouse own an individual retirement account the more information you can provide to your case worker the faster your case can be decided. Some of the documents you should begin gathering with your Houston Medicaid Attorney are account statements and letters from the financial institution establishing any early withdrawal penalties.

TexasTitle19.com is your connection to an experienced Houston Medicaid Attorney who can help you find the right nursing home, get the best care, and pay for it all without going broke. TexasTitle19.com is currently focused on Harris and Montgomery Counties, including the areas of Houston, Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Tomball, Humble, and Katy. If you need legal assistance for eligibility or a Miller Trust, learn more about the author at http://SheaLawOnline.com/.

How Long Will You Have To Pay The Nursing Home Bill?

Rich Shea — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:44:53 +0000

Sometimes a loved one enters a nursing home as the result of the gradual progression of an illness such as Alzheimer’s. Sometimes a loved one needs nursing home care unexpectedly and everyone is caught by surprise and quickly finds themselves in a overwhelming situation. In either case, one of the vital questions you need to ask and prepare for is how long will your family have to pay the nursing home bill before your loved begins receiving Texas Medicaid benefits?

We’ve discussed specific eligibility issues such as assets and income in other articles. Today we are only looking at the timelines involved when a person meets the eligibility criteria for Texas Medicaid.

You may find yourself in the following situation:

Your loved one enters a nursing home on a random day of the month, let’s say October 10th.
Medicare covers the first 20 days but it becomes clear an extended nursing home stay is needed.
You consult with a Texas Medicaid Attorney on November 1st who prepares and files your Medicaid application on November 15th.
The application is approved December 10th.
When do Medicaid benefits begin?

Your loved one can be covered as of October 1st if all of the other criteria were satisfied as of October 1st, namely asset and resource eligibility.

If your loved one did not meet all of the eligibility criteria as of October 1st (which is common in cases where the nursing home admission is unexpected) your family may have to pay the nursing home bill until Medicaid eligibility is created which could be November 1st or December 1st in the above example. Exactly which date it is depends on how quickly you create Medicaid eligibility with the advice of a Texas Medicaid Attorney.

The important thing to remember about asset and income eligibility for Texas Medicaid is that it is only examined at the first moment of the month. By rule, if your loved one has too many assets or too much income as of that first moment of the month they are ineligible for Texas Medicaid nursing home benefits for the entire month and you will have to deal with an uncovered nursing home bill.

Create Medicaid Eligibility As Soon As Possible

In the above example the family began to work with a Texas Medicaid Attorney on November 1st. By that time it was already too late for the attorney to fix any eligibility issues to establish a benefits date of November 1st. The next earliest potential benefits date is December 1st, leaving the family to pick up the bill until then. If the family in the above example began to work with an attorney while there was still enough time in October, they may have been able to obtain a benefits date of November 1st.

How Much Can You Protect or Give Away?

Rich Shea — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:30:35 +0000

This is probably the number one question I hear on a sometimes daily basis from families that are facing a nursing home issue or that are planning ahead in case a nursing home becomes necessary:

“How much assets can we protect, give away, keep?”

The question is pretty straightforward, but the answer is not.

A balancing act takes place in these situations between 1) the financial needs of the potential Texas Medicaid applicant; 2) the potential Texas Medicaid applicant’s desire to protect family assets from nursing home costs; and 3) the eligibility rules of the Texas Medicaid program. In my experience all three factors must be evaluated and resolved in order to provide a complete picture of the situation. Ignoring one often leads to unintended consequences down the road, especially when confronted with a potential 5 year timeline in some cases.

My starting point to answer the asset protection question is to always begin with what is at risk. It does not make much sense to me for a client to spend time and money protecting assets that are not at risk. So, what is at risk? The answer is different for everyone. It depends on the medical and financial condition of the potential Medicaid applicant as well as careful review of assets, income, and expenses.

For example, in the case of a married couple where one spouse is confronted with the immediate need for nursing home care the healthy spouse at home is able to keep assets in a range of $21,000 – $109,000. That is a wide spread and nobody knows the answer in a specific case from just eyeballing a couple of numbers (if they pretend to know the answer without running the numbers odds are they are missing something). The exact answer depends on several calculations based on their specific assets, income and expenses. Until those calculations are done it is impossible to know what assets are protected, and without knowing what assets remain protected nobody knows the best protection strategy for your situation.

So, how much can you protect? I don’t know right now but after we review your situation we can have an accurate picture of what is protected, what is at risk, and what options you have. Speak with a Texas Medicaid Attorney today to protect your life savings from rising nursing home bills.

Is Property Owned By Your Spouse Protected?

Rich Shea — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:21:24 +0000

When your spouse needs nursing home care many people find themselves in a challenging position. You want your spouse to have the best care possible. You also need to protect assets to maintain your own lifestyle on a fixed income. In an attempt to protect assets some families only change the ownership on assets to the name of the healthy spouse. Does this work?

Is property safe if it is owned only by the healthy spouse and not by the spouse who needs Texas Medicaid benefits?

When you apply for Texas Medicaid nursing home benefits you are only asking for benefits for one person. It makes a certain amount of sense that for eligibility purposes only that person’s assets and income would be examined in order to determine eligibility for Texas Medicaid. However, it is a longstanding law that when one spouse needs Medicaid benefits to pay for nursing home care the assets and income of both spouses are examined in order to determine eligibility. Your combined assets and income must be within the eligibility requirements for a married applicant. As a result, changing the ownership of assets from one spouse to the other provides no asset protection.

Is there anything else that can be done to protect assets?

Absolutely. Whether you need to be eligible for Medicaid benefits imminently or years from now you do have options to protect and make the most of your resources before spending everything on nursing home bills. Speak with a Texas Medicaid Attorney today to protect your hard earned assets from rising nursing home bills.

TexasTitle19.com is your resource to find an experienced Houston Medicaid Attorney who can help you find the right nursing home, get the best care, and pay for it all without going broke. We are currently focused on Harris and Montgomery Counties, including the areas of Houston, Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Tomball, Humble, and Katy. We also provide consulting services throughout all of Texas.

Should Your Home be in a Revocable Trust?

Rich Shea — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:05:12 +0000

A Texas Revocable Living Trust is a powerful tool. When used properly it can save a family thousands of dollars and many months in probate court. When used incorrectly, a Texas Revocable Trust can cause a lot of problems.

A common problem occurs when a family has a loved one entering a Texas nursing home and needs to qualify for Texas Title 19 Medicaid benefits. The homestead for many families is not a counted resource as long as it is below $500,000 in equity value. This means the spouse at home can keep the home and the other spouse can still qualify for Texas Medicaid. However, the homestead loses its protected status and becomes a counted resource if it is owned by a revocable trust.

Can it be fixed?

Yes, your Texas Medicaid Attorney can help you re-establish the protected status of your home if it is currently in a Texas Living Trust. If you fail to re-establish your homestead exemption properly, then you will be letting a valuable resource slip away that you could have held on to.

TexasTitle19.com is your resource to find an experienced Houston Medicaid Attorney who can help you find the right nursing home, get the best care, and pay for it all without going broke. We are currently focused on Harris and Montgomery Counties, including the areas of Houston, Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Tomball, Humble, and Katy. We provide application and asset protection services throughout all of Texas.

Take Back Control

Rich Shea — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:00:28 +0000

Can you answer these questions?

My loved one’s nursing home is ________________________.
My loved one’s nursing home costs $____________ every month.
My loved one will be broke on ___________.
My loved one will be able to keep $_________ in income and qualify for Texas Title 19 Medicaid.
My loved one will be able to keep $_________ in assets and qualify for Texas Title 19 Medicaid.
My loved one will qualify for Texas Medicaid nursing home benefits as of ________.
There is a gap of $_________ in nursing home bills that Texas Medicaid will not cover.
The Department of Aging and Disability Services will not impose a penalty period against my loved one based on the previous 5 years of records.
My loved one’s spouse will be able to keep $_________ in income and assets to maintain his or her standard of living.
My family has taken the proper steps to protect as many assets as possible.

Families facing a Texas nursing home situation are always in a difficult position. Uncertainty suddenly surrounds a family that was previously in control of their health and financial destiny. The first step to restoring stability and reducing anxiety is understanding how a nursing home stay will impact a spouse at home as well as the family’s life savings.

A Texas Medicaid Protection Plan can answer these questions for you and your family as well as give you a plan for the road ahead. Speak with a Texas Medicaid Attorney today to begin yours today. Do not stay at the mercy of the nursing home and government agencies. Get answers to your questions today and take back control of your situation.

Texas Resource Eligibility Limit

Rich Shea — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:29:45 +0000

Every family must prove resource eligibility in addition to establishing income eligibility for Houston Medicaid nursing home benefits. If you or your spouse have too much value in counted resources, your application for Houston Medicaid will be denied. The resource limits are different based on the status of the Medicaid applicant’s spouse, if any.

If the applicant for Medicaid nursing home benefits is single, the resource limit to establish eligibility is $2,000. An applicant with more than $2,000 in counted resources is not eligible for Houston Medicaid nursing home benefits. Does this mean if you need Medicaid nursing home benefits in Houston that you will lose everything except $2,000? No, your Houston Medicaid Attorney can help you and your family protect everything you are entitled to protect under state and federal law.

If the applicant for Medicaid nursing home benefits is married, and the applicant’s spouse is healthy and living at home, then the resource limits are determined along with the Spousal Protected Resource Amount (SPRA). The rules governing how to calculate the SPRA are too complicated to cover here, but we will review them in a later post. The SPRA is the final word on what assets the healthy spouse will be allowed to keep for the rest of their life while one spouse is receiving Houston Medicaid benefits. Your Texas Medicaid Attorney can help your family get the largest SPRA you are entitled to.

Your resources are your life savings, don’t lose everything to Houston nursing home costs. Protect everything you can with an experienced Houston Medicaid Attorney. Call (832) 426-3913 to get started today.

TexasTitle19.com is your resource to find an experienced Texas Medicaid Attorney who can help you find the right nursing home, get the best care, and pay for it all without going broke. We are currently focused on Harris and Montgomery Counties, including the areas of Houston, Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Tomball, Humble, and Katy.