The Chapel Hill Medicaid attorneys at Clarity Legal Group® can provide you with very important help through a carefully crafted Medicaid plan which will protect your assets while ensuring your eligbility for Medicaid without penalty. Many people do not realize that Medicare does not pay for long term care. Instead, financial support for long term care must come from private insurance, the family’s own funds, or Medicaid. If you or your loved one does not have enough money to self pay for an extended term of incapacity — and few of us do — a Medicaid plan is one of the key steps needed to take to ensure the property care. A good Medicaid plan will also work to keep some family wealth safe. At Clarity Legal Group®, our compassionate and knowledgeable elder law attorneys will work with you to determine if you need to qualify for Medicaid coverage and will help you to go through the process of protecting your assets so you can get covered. 
Unfortunately, common misconceptions about what Medicaid does — and why you might need coverage — can often result in people either not making a Medicaid plan or waiting too long to make one. To ensure you are not left without the plan that you need, read on to find out some key facts that Medicaid attorneys want you to know.
Medicaid Isn’t Only for Poor People
One big misconception many people have is that you won’t need to get Medicaid unless you are poor. In reality, Medicaid can be very helpful to people who are in the middle class. For some of us, Medicaid may be the only source of payment for nursing home care.
Medicare pays for skilled nursing care for only a very short period and under limited circumstances. Private insurance can be beyond the affordability of even the upper middle class. As a result, many people relay on Medicaid, and without some professional planning, you could end up paying all of your savings and resources out-of-pocket for your care before receiving any Medicaid support.
Middle class and wealthier people could end up spending a fortune to pay for nursing home care and won’t typically qualify for Medicaid until they’ve impoverished themselves. This is the group of people that Medicaid planning can be most helpful for. People with assets who don’t want to lose them because they need nursing home care can benefit a lot from getting help from an attorney in making a Medicaid plan to qualify for means-tested Medicaid to pay for nursing home bills.
You May Still Need Medicaid Even if You Have Medicare
Far too many people assume Medicare will cover all of their costs once they turn 65 and get covered. This is not true. Not only will Medicare not cover most nursing home care but Medicare also has significant premiums and coinsurance costs which can be too much for some people to afford. For certain lower income seniors, Medicaid can pay Medicare premiums and can help to cover coinsurance costs as well. You’ll need to find out if you can get qualified for Medicaid and get help from Medicaid to supplement your care.
Making a Plan to Qualify for Medicaid Takes Time
Unfortunately, many people wait too long to make a Medicaid plan. You don’t want to delay because you need to work with an experienced attorney to develop the right strategy and implement it. While it is never too late to begin Medicaid planning, you will have more options the earlier you plan. This is because of the five year lookback rule. In assessing your eligibility, Medicaid looks back five years from the time when you apply for benefits in order to determine if you made asset transfers during this period. If you transferred assets for less than fair market value in the past five years, you will be penalized in a fashion which, at least temporarily delays your receipt of Medicaid benefits.
Getting Help from a Chapel Hill Medicaid Attorney
A Chapel Hill Medicaid attorney at Clarity Legal Group® can provide personalized assistance making a Medicaid plan so you can keep your wealth safe and secure. We will work closely with you to decide on the best strategies to protect your assets depending upon whether you need care soon or are making a plan for the long-term. To find out more about how our firm can help you, give us a call at 919-484-0012 or contact us online today.
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