{"id":1468,"date":"2019-03-06T09:31:43","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T16:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/altcs\/?p=1468"},"modified":"2023-01-19T16:52:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T23:52:28","slug":"medicaid-spend-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/altcs\/blog\/medicaid-spend-down\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Protect Your Assets From Medicaid Spend Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Given the rising costs of care for seniors, it\u2019s no surprise so many Americans are turning to government assistance programs like Medicaid<\/a> for help. While Medicaid is extremely useful for covering nursing home costs, the program has very strict income and asset restrictions<\/a>. Furthermore, state Medicaid programs heavily scrutinize purchases and asset transfers in the years preceding an application for Medicaid, so you have to be very careful in the years leading up to your application for benefits.<\/p>\n

If you are contemplating applying for Medicaid or ALTCS<\/a> in the next five years, it\u2019s important you have a spend down plan to ensure you meet the qualification standards without risking ineligibility or transfer penalties.<\/p>\n

Medicaid Spend Down Rules and Gifting<\/h2>\n

Before you\u2019re eligible for Medicaid benefits, you\u2019ll need to \u201cspend down\u201d your assets to the point that you have a demonstrable need for government assistance. However, Medicaid imposes strict rules on what you can and cannot spend assets on in the process of spending down. Failure to heed these rules may result in disqualification for program benefits.<\/p>\n

Some popular examples of exempt assets and services that you can pay for in the process of spending down assets for Medicaid include:<\/p>\n