One of the unfortunate facts of life in modern America is the use of Medicaid as a resource for paying for health care for senior citizens as an estate planning device. The idea, of course, is to “protect your assets from Medicaid.” That’s the way it’s usually thought of. But it really is protecting your assets from the nursing home.

The expense of health care as we get older can truly be overwhelming, and would often quickly eat up any savings we have squirreled away, and even our house. Finding an attorney who can help us qualify for welfare (Medicaid) can help us to save the house and savings for a spouse or children.

The EldercareABCBlog has a useful article on the subject of finding an advisor who can guide you through making these important decisions.

Finding an Elder Law Attorney to be Your Medicaid Advisor | Elder Care ABC

A Medicaid advisor will guide you through Medicaid approved methods of protecting your parent’s estate and prevent you from making mistakes that would delay your parent becoming eligible for benefits. An elder law attorney can help your parent establish legal tools that convert “countable” assets (assets that Medicaid considers when determining eligibility) to “exempt” assets.

Perhaps the best way to approach this whole problem is to take a more aggressive stance toward independent living, and plan far enough ahead so that your estate planning doesn’t involve impoverishing yourself in order to qualify for government assistance to pay for health care. This will require a far-sighted and fiscally conservative approach … but isn’t your independence worth it?

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