As you age, you might have to start thinking about whether you will qualify for Medicaid to help you cover your medical expenses after you retire. One way, as we discussed last week, is through Medicaid annuities. That is only one of the options you have to try to qualify for Medicaid. There are several things that people who are considering Medicaid should know. We want our Texas neighbors to have a good understanding of Medicaid planning matters.
One misconception is that Internal Revenue Service rules and Medicaid rules regarding gifting are the same. While it is true that you can gift up to $10,000 per year without any IRS consequences, that isn’t the case with Medicaid. The guidelines for gifting if you need to qualify for Medicaid are much more restrictive, so let us help you plan out how you will gift items to ensure you are in compliance with those guidelines.
Another thing that some people don’t understand is how to use a Miller Trust. This type of trust is useful if you need to protect income. Some people mistakenly use it to try to protect assets, but this type of trust only protects income. Assets aren’t protected by a Miller Trust.
While we understand that you might want to keep your loved one at home and not have them go into a nursing facility, it isn’t always a good idea to keep them home. Medicaid can often help pay some of the costs of nursing home care. It doesn’t matter if your loved one is already in the nursing home or if the need to move into one is coming soon. We can help you to learn if your loved one can qualify for Medicaid by using legal Medicaid planning strategies.