Medicaid Long-Term Care Benefits

Determining eligibility for Medicaid long-term care benefits can be confusing and, without the assistance of an experienced elder law attorney, you could feel bewildered and frustrated about what your future may hold. At Edwards Elder Law, P.A., we are proud to provide trusted guidance and peace of mind to clients throughout the St. Petersburg area. We also work with adult children who may live elsewhere but who are seeking knowledge of Florida Medicaid long-term care laws on behalf of their parents who are Pinellas County residents.

Edwards Elder Law focuses exclusively on handling elder law concerns, so you can be confident that you will be provided the information you require throughout the course of creating an appropriate plan for you or your family member’s current and future care. We offer compassionate counsel throughout the process of assessing your options, making preparations, and taking the mystery out of how to plan for long-term care.

We Can Help You Ask the Right Questions

Medicaid long-term care planning is different in every state. What is appropriate in one state may or may not be appropriate in another state. Because of this, seeking knowledgeable guidance as soon as possible is crucial to avoiding penalties and delays in your efforts to obtain Medicaid long-term care assistance.

Medicaid planning can help you identify your long-term care needs. Our office can assess your Medicaid long-term care benefit program options and determine if those benefit programs will cover your needs.

Determining the Type of Care You or Your Loved One Needs

Every decision about whether Medicaid long-term care benefits are available to someone starts with determining the level of care that he or she needs. You will need to ask whether the appropriate level of care is one of the following:

• Care at home
• Care in an assisted living community
• Care in a nursing home

Many people have unfortunate misperceptions regarding assisted living communities. These misperceptions can keep people from seeking help and cause them to remain in their homes even when home is no longer the safest place for them to live. Assisted living communities are different than nursing homes, which cater to more pronounced physical needs.

Assisted Living Communities

Assisted living communities can offer some of the privacy of living at home because residents can have their own rooms or apartments, as well as built-in assistance that can make living there safer than living at home. Assisted living communities offer meals, laundry service, transportation, and organized activities, which can feel like concierge living. They also provide an environment where someone will notice if a resident falls and where a care professional is on hand to assist with dressing, bathing or moving safely about the community.

Nursing Homes

Nursing homes are more similar to hospitals in that they are for residents who need the highest level of care, plus the rooms typically look more like hospital rooms.

People tend to not want to think about being in a nursing home. However, talking about it, especially if you or a family member is in immediate need of nursing home care, can make it easier to get there and plan for how to pay for it.

Medicaid and Other Options for Long-Term Care Payment

Coming to see us for the education, planning assistance, and support you need allows you to learn about attractive and safe living options you may not have known were available. Once we determine the appropriate level of care, then we turn to the question of how you are going to pay for that care, which is a major stumbling block for many people. Many individuals and families don’t have enough private funds or long-term care insurance to cover these costs.

Applying for Medicaid Long-Term Care Benefits in Florida

Medicaid laws in the state of Florida are strict, and determining eligibility and planning for your future can be confusing. When you work with us, we can thoroughly review your situation to help you understand what is the best course of action to take for your unique circumstances.

If we determine that you or your family member needs care in a nursing home, we can usually apply for Medicaid financial assistance fairly quickly. However, if care is needed at home or in an assisted living community, there is a waiting list in Florida to apply for Medicaid financial assistance in these situations. The wait time if you are on this list can be up to one year or more, so meeting with our elder law attorney for Medicaid long-term care benefits planning is essential.

Once we determine when you can apply for Medicaid, we then have to look at how the Florida Medicaid long-term care income and asset qualification rules work. Do not be deterred by the common misconception that a Florida Medicaid applicant has to get rid of all money and assets, and become destitute before he or she can qualify for Medicaid benefits; this is not true.

Medicaid allows applicants to keep certain exempt assets that don’t count toward the asset limit, but the rules for keeping these assets are specific and strictly enforced. You may be subject to penalties and delays in obtaining Medicaid long-term care benefits if you do not follow all of the rules correctly, so call us for help.

We Can Help Guide You Through the Medicaid Long-Term Care Benefit Process

Planning for your future is important. If critical documents and steps are not completed correctly, you and your family may be facing complicated financial issues down the line. At our office, we can educate and assist you so that your documents are complete and accurate, and so that you can have peace of mind.

We keep our client base small and we offer personalized resolutions to each individual who comes to us for our assistance.

We want to make sure that you are able to receive the best possible resolution to your Medicaid long-term care concerns in a timely and professional manner. For more information about how Edwards Elder Law can benefit you, contact our office today and schedule a complimentary meeting with us.