{"id":728316,"date":"2018-05-29T16:52:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T16:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=728316"},"modified":"2018-05-29T16:52:47","modified_gmt":"2018-05-29T16:52:47","slug":"for-anyone-who-might-end-up-needing-medicaid-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=728316","title":{"rendered":"For Anyone Who Might End Up Needing Medicaid\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style:italic;font-size:16px\">By  <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/people-needing-medicaid\/\">Nilus Mattive<\/a><\/span>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/people-needing-medicaid\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/duip7hn7nchpo.cloudfront.net\/signature-nilus-mattive.png\" alt=\"Nilus Mattive\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>This post <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/people-needing-medicaid\/\">For Anyone Who Might End Up Needing Medicaid\u2026<\/a> appeared first on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/\">Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have a loved one who is disabled or has chronic health issues that may require long-term care in the future?<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps you&#8217;re confident that you can take care of the person yourself.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps you figure there are government programs, like Medicaid, that could be there to pay for long-term care and medical expenses.<\/p>\n<p>At the very least, you probably expect the person to make use of any money you leave behind.<\/p>\n<p>Well, before you make those assumptions, there&#8217;s something you should understand\u2026<\/p>\n<p>You see, if someone applies for government help, such as Medicaid, the state determines how much they can keep. And in most states, they cannot own more than $2,000 worth of assets.<\/p>\n<p>Assets that are usually counted for eligibility include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Checking and savings accounts<\/li>\n<li>Stocks and bonds<\/li>\n<li>CDs<\/li>\n<li>Real property<\/li>\n<li>Additional motor vehicles if they have more than one<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Assets that do not get counted for eligibility include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Personal property and household belongings<\/li>\n<li>One motor vehicle of any value<\/li>\n<li>Life insurance with a face value under $1,500<\/li>\n<li>Up to $1,500 in funds set aside for burial<\/li>\n<li>Certain burial arrangements such as pre-need burial agreements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, a personal residence is treated specially\u2026<\/p>\n<p>It isn&#8217;t counted as long as the equity doesn&#8217;t exceed $572,000, with the states having the option of raising this limit to $858,000. (The equity is the fair market value less outstanding debt on the home). These limits are inflation-adjusted each year.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, in some states, the home will not be considered a countable asset for Medicaid eligibility purposes as long as the nursing home resident <i>intends<\/i> to return home.<\/p>\n<p>In other states, the nursing home resident must prove a <i>likelihood<\/i> of returning home.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, if a person gets an inheritance, their government benefits stop until they have spent all but $2,000 of it. Then it takes months to resume the government assistance again.<\/p>\n<p>That means your loved one would have to spend down all the money you left<i> before<\/i> they could qualify for Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you leave your spouse a $100,000 brokerage account, they&#8217;d have to spend $98,000 of it before qualifying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from Social Security or Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>One solution to all of this?<\/p>\n<p>Leave your assets to another family member with the understanding that they&#8217;ll use the money for your intended beneficiary.<\/p>\n<p>But then there&#8217;s the risk that the money might not be used as planned or even lost due to divorce, bankruptcy, or mismanagement.<\/p>\n<p>A better option could be a special needs trust (SNT).<\/p>\n<p>Also known as a supplemental needs trust, an SNT allows a beneficiary to keep government health and disability payments while benefiting from trust assets.<\/p>\n<p>These funds can be used for such things as out-of-pocket medical expenses, dental care, nursing care, travel and vacation, vehicle maintenance, and a live-in caregiver. Disbursements are not given directly to the beneficiary. Instead, they go to a third party (a trustee) who pays for the goods and services.<\/p>\n<p>You can be a trustee. But you must select a successor trustee to oversee everything when you&#8217;re gone. It can be a close friend, a corporate trustee, or a combination of the two as co-trustees.<\/p>\n<p>Honesty and reliability are critical. That&#8217;s because there is little court supervision on how trusts are managed. For the most part, they operate on the honor system.<\/p>\n<p>Trustees should be familiar, or willing to become familiar, with the rules that determine eligibility for SSI and Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>They must also understand how the SNT can be used to supplement the beneficiary&#8217;s needs without violating those rules.<\/p>\n<p>Even if you aren&#8217;t currently concerned about your loved one receiving government benefits, you never know what the future holds.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if the beneficiary is ever sued, the funds in the SNT cannot be touched since they are not subject to judgments.<\/p>\n<p>And to establish a good relationship between the trustee and the beneficiary, you might consider including a letter to the trustee describing the beneficiary&#8217;s needs.<\/p>\n<p>You can fund the SNT immediately, or name it as the beneficiary of life insurance, IRAs, or other payable on death (POD) accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, name a beneficiary to receive what remains in the SNT after your loved one dies. Otherwise, the trust assets will end up in probate court where a judge determines who is next in line.<\/p>\n<p>You can draft an SNT on your own, as long as you include the proper language. There are tons of books and online sources with templates.<\/p>\n<p>Just remember that state laws vary, and your circumstances may be more complicated than you realize. So to make sure it&#8217;s done right, also consider consulting an estate planning attorney who has experience with SNTs.<\/p>\n<p>To a richer life,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Nilus Mattive<br \/>\nEditor, <i>The Rich Life Roadmap<\/i><\/p>\n<p>The post <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/people-needing-medicaid\/\">For Anyone Who Might End Up Needing Medicaid\u2026<\/a> appeared first on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/\">Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/people-needing-medicaid\/\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"rssmi_more\"> &#8230;read more<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>From:: <a href=\"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/people-needing-medicaid\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"For Anyone Who Might End Up Needing Medicaid\u2026\">Daily Reckoning<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Nilus Mattive This post For Anyone Who Might End Up Needing Medicaid\u2026 appeared first on Daily Reckoning. Do you have a loved one who is disabled or has chronic health issues that may require long-term care in the future? Perhaps you&#8217;re confident that you can take care of the person yourself. Perhaps you figure [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[366],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-728316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dailyreckoning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=728316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=728316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=728316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=728316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}