Elder Law Today Podcast Show #8 Medicaid Horror Stories

In
show number 8 of his podcast, Elder Law Today, practicing elder law
attorney, Yale Hauptman, discusses some real life case studies to
illustrate how the Medicaid laws can trip people up and cause much
stress and financial loss for the unprepared and unwary.

Yale first discusses
the case of the granddaughter caring for her grandmother full time,
with Grandmom providing the funds to support both of them. Things go
wrong when Grandmom’s condition deteriorates to the point where
nursing home care is necessary and the money has run out. Learn the
mistakes that this family made and why it has become much harder to
fix them under the new Medicaid laws.

Next, Yale discusses a
call he received from a son in Mississippi who took in his parents to
his own home, moving them from New Jersey. The parents transferred
their home to Son, who then put it up for sale. The plan fell apart
when Dad took ill and needed nursing home care much sooner than
anticipated. He applied for Medicaid and was denied because of the
home transfer. The Medicaid caseworker told the family they would
need to transfer the home back and spend down the sale proceeds
before Dad could then qualify. Learn why their course of action was
the wrong one for more than one reason and what they could do fix it
and immediately qualify Dad and preserve the funds for Mom.

Yale then discusses
the call he received from the frantic daughter who was sued by the
nursing home when, after 8 years, Mom lost her Medicaid eligibility.
The nursing home sought $80,000, the private pay cost of care for
Mom. Why did it happen and what do you need to do to prevent it from
happening to your family? Tune in.

The final case study
concerns a couple who was unprepared when suddenly Husband took ill,
needing nursing home care. They were told that he would qualify for
Medicaid but that some amount of money would have to be spent down
first. Unfortunately, Wife did not fully understand the urgency and
did not spend down to the necessary levels for 6 months. The nursing
home presented them with a bill for $70,000, the private pay amount
for that period of time, for which Medicaid will not cover. Yale
talks about why this outcome didn’t have to happen and what
could have been done to avoid it.

Yale also takes time
to answer some more listener emails. Learn what to do when a bank
resists honoring a power of attorney that is presented to it. This
8th installment is sure to answer many of the questions
you have about common elder law issues.

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