Medicaid Planning

The Medicaid program was established in 1965 as one of the antipoverty programs of President Johnson’s Great Society. It mandated a federal-state partnership to help needy individuals obtain medical care. Eligibility for Medicaid is largely based on federal law, although as state budgets get tighter, more and more states are proposing and adopting tighter restrictions for eligibility.

There are only three ways to pay for what is called "custodial" long-term care. They are long-term care insurance, private funds or Medicaid. No health care insurance currently available pays for this type of care, although under certain tightly prescribed conditions, Medicare may pay up to 100 days. If you have assets worth protecting and can afford the premiums, long-term care insurance is the much-preferred choice.

The Maryland State Medicaid Manual fills three very thick three-ring binders. The rules and interpretations are constantly changing. In 2001, in a Medicaid decision, the New York Supreme Court issued the following: No agency of the government has any right to complain about the fact that middle class people confronted with desperate circumstances chose voluntarily to inflict poverty upon themselves when it is the government itself which has established the rule that poverty is a prerequisite to the receipt of government assistance in the defraying of the costs of ruinously expensive, but absolutely essential medical treatment.

The attorneys at Byrd & Byrd, LLC understand the maze of rules and regulations that govern the achievement of Medicaid eligibility. It is not too late to consider Medicaid Planning even if a loved one has already entered long-term care.

Byrd & Byrd, LLC has a history of successfully shepherding clients through the Medicaid Planning process.

ElderLaw

Medicaid Planning

General Practice