Jerry Taylor clears up five myths about nursing home costs and Medicaid. Medicare doesn't cover nursing homes, which run around $100,000 a year. Medicaid doesn't require you to give up everything: spouses can keep a home, car, and roughly $130,000 in cash. Legal strategies exist to preserve assets even after admission, but hiding them is a crime.
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5 things you should never believe about nursing home care. The first thing you should never believe is that Medicare is going to pay for it. Nursing home care has to be paid for in one of 3 ways: out of your pocket, long-term care insurance, or you have to qualify for Medicaid. An average bill is $100,000 a year. Second thing you should not believe is that you have to give away everything you own to get Medicaid. In certain situations, you can keep your home, a car. If you have a spouse at home, they can keep around $130,000 in addition to other things depending on your state law. Third thing you shouldn't believe is that if you put everything you have into spouse's name, you can be eligible for Medicaid. All of a couple's countable assets are considered. Thing you should not believe 4: that if you enter the nursing home as a private pay patient, that you have to spend everything you have before you can get Medicaid. Not true. There are legitimate legal strategies that can be used to preserve assets even after someone has already entered a nursing home. And thing 5 that you should never believe is that you can hide your assets. And the truth is, if you attempt to hide your assets, you've committed a crime.
