Long-Term Care Planning - Save Money On Nursing Home Care

What can long-term care planning or Medicaid planning do for you?

For starters, it can save you thousands of dollars on current or future long-term care. According to a 2020 Genworth study on nursing home costs, the average semi-private, full-time nursing home room in Kansas costs approximately $6,691.00 monthly ($80,292.00 annually). With this type of price tag, people are starting to realize the importance of planning for their end-of-life expenses. 

If you are healthy and in no need of immediate care, you might want to seek advice on long-term care planning from an experienced elder law attorney. Upon examining a comprehensive list of your assets and their values and listening to your objectives, your attorney may suggest any number of legal strategies to help you accomplish your goals. A few of these suggestions might include purchasing a long-term care insurance policy, creating and funding an irrevocable Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, establishing a gifting plan to family members, transferring assets by beneficiary designations and transfer-on-death designations, or forming some type of business entity. The type of legal strategies recommended for you will depend on your unique situation.

Medicaid planning is the term commonly used to preserve assets for individuals already residing in or having an impending need for full-time, skilled nursing home care. Planning at this stage is often referred to as crisis planning. Once again, an elder law attorney will need a comprehensive list of your assets and their values, as well as information on any income streams that you have. Depending on your goals, assets, income, life expectancy, and other issues unique to your situation, your attorney might recommend purchasing a Medicaid annuity, initiating an asset gifting program, purchasing a prepaid funeral plan, having home improvement repairs done on your residence, or any other number of planning choices.

All of these are viable options that many people are unaware they can utilize, particularly once someone has already been placed in a long-term care facility. However, be cautious when moving forward with a Medicaid spenddown, because if not done correctly, it can result in a refusal of benefits. Hiring an experienced elder law attorney is a good way to ensure that mistakes are avoided so that you can qualify more easily for Medicaid while preserving the greatest amount of assets allowed by law for your family.
​
If you have questions about Medicaid planning or long-term care planning, contact Davis & McCann, P.A., Dodge City, Kansas at 620-225-1674. We are members of Wealth Counsel, a national consortium of Estate Planning Attorneys and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). We focus our practice on providing clients with the best legal advice on Estate Planning, Medicaid and Long-term Care Planning, Special Needs Planning, Family Business/Small Business Succession Planning, Probate, Trust Administration, Real Estate, 1031 Exchanges, and related matters.

---