Medicaid Asset Protection

21 Feb 2023 · 1 min

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In this advisory segment, the speaker explains that Medicaid can place a lien on a beneficiary’s home to recover costs paid for long-term care. He illustrates the high expense of nursing home care—often $80,000 to $90,000 per year—and stresses the necessity of early planning to protect assets. The primary strategy he recommends is transferring the home into an irrevocable Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT) and observing a five‑year look‑back period before the individual requires long‑term care; after this period the home is shielded from Medicaid’s recovery actions.

Chapters

A lien will be put on your home to recover any benefits paid by Medicaid for long-term care. I had a client recently who put his mother in a nursing home and applied for Medicaid benefits. The first thing they wanted from her, a copy of the deed for her home. Unless you are capable of paying $80,000 to $90,000 per year minimum for the nursing home bill, you need to plan early to preserve your assets from Medicaid recovery. One of the primary ways I help people to plan early to preserve their assets from Medicaid is to put their home in an irrevocable Medicaid asset protection trust. If your home is in a Medicaid asset protection trust for 5 years before you need long-term care, it will be completely protected from Medicaid recovery.