Medicaid Planning and Long-Term Care in Connecticut: What to Consider

Anyone who is currently in their 50s or assisting aging parents with nursing home care and assisted-living facility considerations is realizing that it is about the time that they begin thinking about these issues for themselves, too. To be sure, although it may still be more than a decade or two before you may need long-term care yourself, it is important to begin thinking about Medicaid planning very early on.

What do you need to consider when it comes to Medicaid planning and long-term care in Connecticut? Consider the following from our Connecticut elder law attorneys.

Medicare Does Not Cover Most Long-Term Care 

You should know that Medicare does not cover most long-term care. Unless you want to pay for long-term care when you need it with your own assets, you will need to qualify for Medicaid. In order to qualify, you will either need to spend down your assets or have countable assets and income below the state limits.

Understand Income and Asset Limits in Connecticut 

When it comes to countable assets and income, how much can you have if you are a Connecticut resident and require Medicaid coverage for long-term care? As the American Council on Aging explains, your income limit will vary by month depending on the type of care you require (whether you require institutional care of in-home care or community-based services, for example). Your asset limit will also depend on whether or not you are married and both you and your spouse require care.

For a single person, the asset limit for 2024 is $1,600 in countable assets. For married couples both applying, the asset limit is $3,200. If you are married and only one spouse is applying, the asset limit is $1,600 for the spouse seeking Medicaid coverage and $154,140 for the spouse not seeking Medicaid eligibility as of 2024. The amounts are different for regular Medicaid eligibility, as well as for Medicaid eligibility for blind or disabled adults.

The income limits range from $1,428 per month to anything less than the cost of nursing home care. You should discuss the limits applicable to your case with a lawyer.

Options for Protecting Assets 

How can you protect your assets? Certainly, you do not want a nursing home or an in-home long-term care provider to take all of the money that you have been working to save during your adult lifetime. There are multiple options that might be relevant to you, but a few that you should discuss with an elder law attorney include:

• Establishing a Medicaid asset protection trust (sometimes called a MAPT for short), which is an irrevocable trust in which you can place assets in order to protect them so that they will not be countable for Medicaid eligibility purposes;
• Invest in long-term care insurance, recognizing that there are a wide range of policies that you should discuss with a lawyer; or
• Providing an adult child with their inheritance early, or establishing a trust, under the assumption that you will not require long-term care and Medicaid coverage for it within the next 5 years.

Contact a Canton, Connecticut Elder Law Attorney 

Do you have questions about Medicaid planning and elder law? One of the experienced Canton elder lawyers at the Law Office of Brian S. Karpe can speak with you today. Contact us for more information.

Source:

medicaidplanningassistance.org/medicaid-eligibility-connecticut/