Senior Medicaid Eligibility and Long Term Care

Need financial assistance for nursing home or assisted living services? Medicaid can provide you with the needed finances through its Long Term Care program, designed for low-income seniors with limited assets other than the home they own. It can pay for almost all of your care needs, provided you are qualified.

This coverage however, is only available to those who can’t care for themselves independently at home. Likewise, you have to satisfy certain eligibility requirements related to income and assets, which vary depending on whether you’re single or still married. Once accepted, you can reside in any long term care facility recognized by Medicaid and which accepts Medicaid payment.

Medicaid is intended to help with custodial care or non-medical related concerns of daily senior living. This means it requires no prior hospital stay nor restrictions to skilled nursing facilities. You also don’t have to be recovering from an ailment or injury for it to continue paying for your care. 

On the other hand, although Medicaid allows you to spend your assets freely and not just on your care, you cannot give them away for less than the market value, e.g. transferring a property to your child so you’ll qualify for the program. You may still move into a long term care home, but you’ll have to pay for out-of-pockets costs while serving your penalty period if Medicaid discovers you made such a transfer in the last five years.