Medicaid Asset Transfers: What Are The Rules?

For many families, paying for a loved one's extended stay in a nursing home would be difficult without the help of Medicaid. However, in order to qualify for the program, a person's income and assets must fall within certain limits.
Federal rules state that to qualify for Medicaid nursing home coverage, a person must have no more than $2,000 in "countable" assets.

If you have countable resources above the limits, you may be told that you need to "spend down" your assets, paying for nursing home care yourself, until you reach the resource limits, at which point Medicaid begins covering the cost. This is what happens in many cases. In other cases, a family may anticipate the need for long-term care and wish to transfer assets to the next generation ahead of time, in order to preserve the family's resources while still qualifying for Medicaid. This is an excellent strategy, as long as the Medicaid rules are followed...Click here to read more.