Avoid Being Denied Medicaid Due to Improper Transfers

                       Improper Transfers Can Cause Your Loved One to Be Denied Medicaid

Are you a caregiver to an aging parent or grandparent?  Have you quit your job in order to help care for a relative?  Are you being paid for caring for an elder?  If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions you need to continue reading.

 

Federal Medicaid law looks back five (5) years at transfers of assets from a Medicaid applicant to a person other than their spouse.  Those transfers of assets can result in a delay in Medicaid approval.  What this means to you is that being paid as a caregiver can cause a Medicaid denial if you and the elder do not have a written personal service agreement.  A personal service agreement details: 



1. the services being provided by the caregiver to the elder;
2. the amount of time spent each month providing each type of service;
3. the hourly rate of payment for each type of service calculated over the actuarial life expectancy of the elder; and
4. other important terms.

In order for the Medicaid agency to accept a personal service agreement as a legitimate transaction the right set of facts must exist in your working relationship with the elder and it must be properly documented.  The Florida Department of Children & Families is closely scrutinizing personal service agreements so don't leave your relative's future long-term care plan to chance.  Consult with me a Board Certified Elder Law Attorney so that you can create peace of mind for your family.

 

Join me for my monthly public teleseminar on important aging issues and legal solutions.  Visit my website or call our office at 954-382-1997 for the date, time, and dial in. It's FREE.

 

                                We Want to Be Your Trusted Advisor Through Life.

Read the LGBTQ Healthcare Bill of Rights

THE LGBTQ HEALTHCARE BILL OF RIGHTS - Be an Informed Consumer

Several LGBTQ advocacy groups have partnered with Center Link the Community of LGBT Centers to promote equal healthcare treatment for the LGBTQ community and prevent discrimination by healthcare providers based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The LGBTQ Bill of Rights was released in November 2014, when open enrollment for obtaining health insurance through the Affordable Care Act began. The LGBTQ Healthcare Bill of Rights is intended to educate hospitals, healthcare providers and the consumers.

Read the Bill of Rights to be effective an advocate for yourself, your spouse, partners and friends. Do you know that:

• If you believe you have been discriminated against you can file a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services.  
• Under the Patient Visitation Rule you and your partner or spouse have the right to designate each other as the person to communicate with doctors and determine who can visit you when you are a patient in a hospital that accepts Medicare or Medicaid funding. The Privacy Rule specifically prohibits discrimination by hospitals based upon gender identity or sexual orientation.
•  It is very important to have medical advance directives so that if you are incapacitated the person you designate and trust (not necessarily your next-of-kin) can make your medical decisions. It is suggested that you have a Designation of Healthcare Surrogate, Living Will and HIPAA Authorization for Release of Confidential Medical Information. 
• HIPAA is the federal law that protects your confidential health information. That information can only be released to the person you designate in writing. If you think that confidential medical information has been released without your authorization or, that a healthcare employee has not respected your privacy and has released confidential information you can file a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services.

We want to be your trusted planning advisor through life.