My mother is in a nursing home that's trying to get her on Medicaid. How can I get her accounts under the $2,000 threshold so Medicaid won't disqualify her?

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My mother is in a nursing home that's trying to get her on Medicaid. How can I get her accounts under the $2,000 threshold so Medicaid won't disqualify her?

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She has just a little more than $2,000 in her combined checking & savings accounts. She has no other "assets" (property, home, vehicle, etc). I am her P.O.A. and a co-owner on those accounts. How can I get rid of it amount without making an "Intentional withdrawal"?

Financial Planning Medicaid

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I have heard that you can purchase needed thing for her care. A wheelchair, disposable briefs, an alternating pressure mattress pad, a pad for her wheel chair, etc.

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I'd suggest having her buy things that go MIA in a NH:
- extra Pairs of eyeglasses
- extra hearing aid & batteries
- if you have room for storage: extra panties, socks & if she wears camisoles extras or buy her a few front snap bras; extra shoes. My mom loved those horrid & not exactly cheap SAS shoes & there always always ended up with 1 shoe gone.
If still $ left
- subscription to large print magazine if she reads
- dental work
Basic Wheelchairs, walkers will be provided by either Medicare or medicaid. So imo if funds are limited buying her things that are not ever paid by the M&Ms are better use of $.

pay by check from her checking account and keep the receipt just in case Medicaid asks.

Remember mom will be allowed a small PNA- personal needs allowance- each month from the monthly income that goes to her copay. Varies by state (was $60 for my mom inTx). So there will be some smallish funds to pay for her visits to the on site @ NH beauty shoppe or some toiletries replacements.

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igloo572 gave you excellent advise. right on target!

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You're in good shape so no worries... all great advice so far... think forward to bring it under the $2,000. Diapers, new toiletry needs, new comfy blanket or slippers, etc. Yes, use a check to pay for this stuff and keep receipt to show medicaid as necessary. Good luck! :-)

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Good thoughts from all! Also, would she play simple games on an iPad or touch screen laptop? It could be a connection for you both when you bring it in because you would not want to leave it there. A portable stereo to listen to CDs, or an audio book player? An item of furniture to store things on/in or maybe something smaller in the bathroom to keep her toiletries in? A lift chair? Lamp? Wall decor, picture frames, photo album? DVD player? Check with the activities director at your NH. That's where I got suggestions for larger ticket items that would fit my dad.

The monthly allowance can add up quickly if you do not have regular purchases. Our lawyer recommended we try to keep dad's assets between a few hundred to $1500 that way if we lapse watching it we do not get disqualified because we went over $10 one month. When our loved ones pass, whatever liquid assets are left will go to the NH or back to Medicaid.

Checks are okay, but you have to send in copies of each check and receipt. Here, they prefer debit card and all the info will be on the bank statement.

You can do this! I am a saver not a spender. I despise having to spend money just to spend money, but it is doable and without Medicaid help, they could not be cared for at the NH.

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Everyone is correct, never let the account go over 2,000 even by 1 cent. I got my mom PJ's warm ones, a new blanket, moisturizer she wanted, a small pocketbook for her lap, a knitted blanket to cover her legs. I brought her money down to 300.00. Also make sure her funeral plans are paid for and it is IRREVOCABLE, as well as her cemetery plots. Keep receipts of everything, if u can buy it on HER credit card do it and then pay for it by check and keep a copy of the check. They can be very strict and request all receipts, proof of payments etc. I had a hard time with Boscovs because they to do return checks or copy of the checks to the bank, and the stores don't have them. I had to contact the President of their corporate office and they had to get me a copy of a check payment from my mom's acct, from their micro film files. What a disaster. There are time frames to file, time frames to get them all their receipts and 5 yrs worth of bank statements. Time is of the essence. They give you a brief window of time to comply to their requests or they deny coverage. You don't want to be in that situation. Get your moms account down by getting her things she needs, and make sure you can prove they were FOR HER.

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Since this is income... unless she has a MONTHLY scheduled expense that qualifies, she is going to be deemed above that limit.

Have an attorney set up a Miller trust.

The income above $2000 is placed in the trust. She then is under the guideline. The trust is for Medicaid, and Medicaid is the sole beneficiary of it when she passes.

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Does she have a prepaid funeral or cremation plan?

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That the allowance Mom gets from Medicaid counts against her $2000 was new to me. So I called Moms caseworker and he confirmed that its true. And that there has been an increase to $50 a month herevin NJ. TG I have her bank account down to under $100.

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Medicaid will tell you how to spend the excess so your mother will be eligible. It's just a phone call.

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Take her out for a dinner at a restaurant she always wanted to go to & take pix - one more thing off the bucket list

Ask her what she would like to do for $300 - maybe she always wanted to go to a spa or have a pedicure or go to the zoo - if you have to spend the money make it a treat for her - with a few pix she will enjoy that day many times ... priceless

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It is not the withdrawal that causes problems, it is how it is spent. As long as the withdrawn money is spent on your mother, it is not a gift and therefore not a problem. The ideas presented by others, here, are good. A pre-paid funeral/burial is good if there is an amount that warrants that, e.g., $5,-10,000 or so. For smaller amounts, the spend-down ideas suggested by others here are the way to go!

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My mom is not in the financial/Medicaid situation you describe, and as soon as her home sells should have sufficient amounts in the bank for her continued care. However, you never know what might happen so, on the advice of her eldercare attorney, pay everything either by check, or, preferably, with a singular credit card, one that gets cash back. I use Discover. The account is mom's and I have a card in my name. Everything possible goes on that card and I save all receipts. I pay the bill in full when it arrives and staple all receipts to the bill and file it. The credit card allows me to easily track monthly contributions to her favorite charities, purchase of paper goods and medicines ordered by the assisted living facility she just transferred to, clothing, Dr. visits, etc.

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If she's on Social Security, I'm actually surprised you haven't thought to help her open and able account. This thing called the able act is still fairly new and allows recipients to have far more money they otherwise can't. You can open an able account in Tennessee no matter where you live, they take out-of-state applicants and there's no maintenance fee. You can open the able account and put all of her extra money in there. If she ever needs something, the money will be there and can purchase those items depending on what she needs. This is what the able act is four and I think those 'savings accounts' President Trump was talking about is probably the able accounts. I hope even when his term is up, I hope the able act stands because those who most need a leg up in life would otherwise be stuck on the sidelines like before. Too many people have been going without well needed big ticket items for too long that would otherwise make their lives better, giving them better life experiences. Perhaps you really should get a hold of an able account and sweep all of your moms extra money into that. What you do is after it's open, you link her savings account at her regular bank to her able account. You can also link a checking account. You go on the able website where your account is and login. Then, you add a bank with your banking info before setting up regular automated transfers from your regular bank account into the able account. The nursing home likely has her whole check if you turned it over to them, but you don't necessarily have to. You can choose to pay the nursing home yourself with her money but by law, you must give her a certain amount for a monthly allowance. She can use that allowance or she can choose to put it into her able account. What I would also do is make the smart move of seeing if she has her final expenses set up. If not, see what she wants and help her set up her preneed with the funeral home of her choice. It's always a smart move to set up your own preneed well in advance before the need actually arrives so that you save your family the unexpected and very expensive expense of another expected funeral

I don't know if your mom owns a home, but if she does, I would get a hold of an eldercare lawyer as long as she's competent, and have the lawyer set up a TOD transfer on death. This helps your home transfer outside of probate. That way, no one can touch it. Not the nursing home, Medicaid, no one. Protect her home with a TOD account with the help of a lawyer if she owns a home. When my bio dad with Alzheimer's entered a nursing home, absolutely no one could touch his house.

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having gone thru this a year ago, mom had plots that were paid for in her 50's, she passed a week after her 92nd bday, mom was a saver also since dad had a good paying job back in those days, managed to buy three houses of which the last one was paid for, yeah mom. however as the years went by 15 to b exact after dad passing she managed to get the bank account down to just basic, where this 2,000 was not an issue (hint hint for ya all folks) after moms first stroke b four years this year, we made improvements to the house that would improve its sale, and that brought the account down down down, at the point of passing, creamation was the only thing that was affordable, even with the life insurance check, just a thought everyone dont wait till the last minute when you see " things happening" its called getting the house in order not wating till the "last minute"

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Dontask4handout -
ABLE Accounts are not for the elderly. They are for people with disabilities. The ABLE Act was passed in 2014. It's for anyone who is receiving public assistance, like SNAP or SSDI or Medicaid. Those programs have means tests for eligibility, so prior to the ABLE Act, accumulating money endangered eligibility for the programs. In other words, you had to remain poor to be entitled to the assistance.
The ABLE Act allows disabled people to have a savings account so they can cover some of the additional costs of living with a disability that aren't covered by the programs.

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Regarding Able account, Isn't-easy is spot on about its narrow use.
Able is for those who have a disability related to childhood or young adulthood only. Able is of NO use for elderly with dementia, which is what most are dealing with on this site. Good catch isnteasy!

I have a cousin who is a 1950's polio survivor & now has 2ndary polio symptoms. Long story short, he has a existing special needs trust - I'm a trustee - and we looked into doing an "ABLE". For his situation, although an ABLE could be set up there's no new funds to do one as his parents are deceased (they put a substantial amount of $$$ for his SNT back in the 70's) & moving SNT $ into an Able at this point in time not really useful. We're actually planning to defund the SNT by 2018. The SNT has been a very good thing as paid for things Medicaid never would.

Able seems to me to work best for parents or grandparents who can deposit for several years the maximum annual amount of $ (I think it's limited to 14k a yr) into the ABLE account of a person disabled before age 25 or 26; and can do this for several years to build it up to the max of about 100k . I think more than 1 AbLE account can exist. The Able does not factor into their income or assets for Medicaid eligbility but it's there for them to draw from. It seems to be way way simpler to access $$ in ABLE than having the $ in a SNT plus dealing with trust requirements.

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Just wondered when taking mom to dinner is only her part in count down or whole ck w mom there?

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Be sure she has a prepaid funeral plan, or at least an insurance policy that the beneficiary is the funeral home. she can spend some of her income on the premium. when she passes, you will need at least 5000 dollars at the minimum to have her cremated and to have a funeral if you want one. and if you need a burial plot, that needs to be considered as well. Otherwise, purchase her the things she needs, clothes, equipment, furniture for her nursing home room, a lift chair, things that she can legitimately use.

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My mother is in a nursing home that's trying to get her on Medicaid. How can I get her accounts under the $2,000 threshold so Medicaid won't disqualify her?

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