Do you need a Seminole Medicaid attorney? As life expectancy continues to rise among Pinellas County seniors, it is important to have a plan in place that protects aging family members and their assets, and at the same time paves the way to receive public benefits such as Florida Medicaid.
Seminole Medicaid attorney John Frazier works with elder law clients and their loved ones to ensure elderly family members are well taken care of later in life.
While we may hope to care for our sick and aging parent or spouse, we all understand that some health problems are just too serious to handle on our own. Cancer, crippling strokes, the onset of dementia, broken bones, Parkinson’s, kidney failure, etc. are just a few cases when long-term care in a skilled nursing home or assisted living facility may be necessary.
Seminole Medicaid Planning for Assisted Living And Nursing Facility Care
Skilled nursing home care comes at a high price. The average monthly expense for nursing home care in the Pinellas County area in 2019 is $8,569. At over $102,800 per year, it would not take long to deplete one’s life savings if a debilitating health crisis strikes. (1)
The excessive costs of nursing home care have made Medicaid planning a critically important action plan for most middle-class seniors and their families. Most of our aging population will likely require some form of long-term care. But so many are unprepared for the tremendous burdens it places on their family’s finances.
Even the cost for an assisted living facility can run anywhere between $3,000 to $6,000 per month. We have another article on dealing with Medicaid coverage for assisted living that dives into some of those details.
The right Medicaid planning attorney can take that worry away from you and make your life better today.
The Time for Florida Medicaid Planning Is Now
Most people don’t hear about Medicaid planning until a family member is hospitalized, then discharged to a nursing home or rehab facility. Medicare may cover expenses for up to 100 days—but rarely is this long enough.
If you do not have long term care insurance, you are basically left with two options:
- Pay the assisted living facility or nursing home costs out-of-pocket, or
- Plan your long term care expenses through legal Medicaid planning.
The clear alternative is the Florida Medicaid program for assisted living and long-term nursing home care.
Medicaid planning involves planning for long term Medicaid eligibility. For seniors who qualify, Medicaid may pay up to 100% of nursing home costs.
As a Seminole Medicaid attorney, I work with you or your aging parent to help you qualify for nursing home care under the Medicaid program, while legally preserving most (if not all) of your assets.
Do You Really Need a Lawyer?
The truth is, yes. Florida Medicaid is an exceptional program, but Medicaid planning must be done right.
- What are you legally allowed to do to protect your savings and assets?
- How do you convert assets without getting in trouble?
- Do you apply for Medicaid now, or after you become a nursing home resident (and the bills start coming in)?
- Who can you trust to protect your legal interests 100 percent of the time?
Things can get complicated very fast. Medicaid rules and laws constantly change.
My years of accumulated knowledge in Medicaid planning enables me to achieve the utmost benefit for each individual client. With custom-tailored planning, money and assets are positioned to where Medicaid does not count them, but they largely remain available to you.
Some of the Medicaid planning tools and strategies that may help you include:
- Special needs pooled trusts
- Personal services contract
- Repairs to the homestead
- Purchase of a homestead
- Gifting
- Medicaid qualifying annuity
- Purchase income-producing property
- Purchase exempt assets (assets that Medicaid does not count)
- Payments of debts and expenses
Hands-on Medicaid Planning Lawyer for Seminole Residents
The decision to place an elderly loved one into a nursing home is one of the most difficult choices one can make. Family members involved are anxious and under great stress. In times like this, it’s essential to pause, take a deep breath, and know that there are things you can do.
Good information is available here, so you can make the right choices for your family and aging loved ones. If you wish to be proactive in your own or a loved one’s Medicaid planning, you have come to the right place.
Please contact me, your Seminole Medicaid attorney John R. Frazier, today for your free, no-obligation telephone consultation.
Are you concerned about the costs of hiring an attorney? Read more about my sliding scale fees that are the clearest, fairest you will likely find.
(1) Source: Genworth Financial Inc. Cost of Care Survey 2018