Hopefully you are not in a crisis situation where you must act very quickly. If you have time, the answer to what you can do NOW is that you can begin planning ahead for something you see on the horizon.
One of the big misconceptions about Medicare is that it pays for long-term care. It does not. Medicare will pay for most hospital stays and outpatient health provider visits (if your loved one has the optional Part B coverage), and it may pay for skilled nursing care for a period of time. But Medicare will not pay for long-term stays in a residential facility (nursing home, assisted living, etc.).
Many people may confuse Medicare (the federal health insurance program for persons over 65 and other qualified individuals) and Medicaid (the state and federal health insurance program for persons who meet certain income requirements). Medicare will not pay for long-term care. Medicaid may pay for long-term care if the individual meets certain income requirements.
In order to reduce their assets sufficiently to be able to qualify for Medicaid, elderly people may transfer assets to others or to a trust. There are two essential time periods, the look-back period and the ineligibility period, that come into play when assets are transferred. Generally, the transfer will need to take place at least five years prior to needing Medicaid. Advance planning is key if it is expected that a person might need Medicaid assistance to pay for long-term care.
You will need legal counsel when you consider sale or gifting of the home, and the earlier the better, from the Medicaid regulation standpoint. You may have other options besides Medicaid to explore such as in-home care that may be covered by Medicare. Not all attorneys know this specific area of law well enough to educate you about your options. Ideally, you will want to choose an attorney who knows elder law and real estate law in your state and who can help educate you in more detail about the ins and outs of financing long-term care.
One starting point to identify a qualified attorney is the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys Inc. database (www.naela.org), where you can find a listing of practicing elder law attorneys in your state.
To choose the best legal adviser in this situation, check the Yellow Pages, consult your local council on aging, and/or your state's bar association to get a referral to someone skilled in this area of law. Also, talk with friends/neighbor/co-workers who have gone through similar transitions, and see whether they recommend someone they spoke with. Be sure to ask the legal counselor point-blank how much he or she knows about the laws in their state and the federal laws that affect aging parents and asset transfers.
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