Myths About Medicaid | Here’s What to Know

It is important to recognize the most typical myths associated with Medicaid in Pennsylvania. Continue reading to learn more and reach out to our skilled Butler County elder law attorneys today to discuss the details of your case and your options. Our legal team is on your side.

What are the most common myths about Medicaid?

1. Medicare will protect my long-term care expenses. Medicare’s coverage of long-term care expenses is rather narrow. Medicare covers just up to 100 days of “skilled nursing care” per condition. To satisfy these prerequisites, you must enter a Medicare-approved “skilled nursing facility” or nursing home within thirty days of a hospital stay that lasted at least three days. Furthermore, you must be showing signs of improvement while in the facility or your Medicare coverage will be released.
2. To qualify for Medicaid, you should transfer your assets to your children. Medicaid puts a penalty on an applicant who transfers or gifts assets out of his or her name to another person or entity without receiving fair market value in exchange. The penalty set is a period of time that Medicaid will not pay for the applicant’s care. The length of the penalty period is defined, based upon the number of assets transferred within five years of the date of the application for Medicaid. However, proper planning and consideration must be exerted if you or your loved one are considering transferring assets. The care supplied in a nursing home must be for the exact condition as delivered during the hospital stay. Once Medicare coverage for your nursing home expenses is finished, you will need to either personally pay for long-term care expenses or qualify for Medicaid.
3. You need to be broke to qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid helps underprivileged individuals pay for their long-term care costs, however, you do not need to be completely broke to be authorized. A single Medicaid applicant can have no more than $2,000 in assets in order to qualify for Medicaid, but there are some assets that are considered noncountable.
4. A prenuptial agreement will cover my assets from being counted if my spouse needs Medicaid. A prenuptial agreement does not keep your property separate for purposes of Medicaid eligibility. The purpose of such an agreement is to keep spouses’ property individual, in the event of death or divorce. Medicaid does not honor the terms of prenuptial agreements.

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