rules can vary by State but a community spouse or CS (as opposed to the institutionalized spouse or IS) doesn't have to spend down everything. A community spouse can keep:
one car (if more than one is owned the highest equity value car is exempt and the lower one(s) are counted)
house (primary)
community spouse's retirement accounts (401k/IRA, etc)
community spouse's income
life insurance with face under $1500 (if face value is $1500 or more cash value is counted, minus $1000 disregard)
burial reserve (if irrevocable) and spaces/plots
all other resources (IS's retirement accounts, stocks/bonds, bank accounts, annuities with cash surrender value, CDs whether joint or individual) are counted but the CS gets to keep a protected share which is half of the total countable resources (as of the day of admission) up to a maximum amount. This year it's $154,140.
If the CS wants to protect more than that, they should contact an elder law attorney, generally to purchase a medicaid compliant annuity which reduces the excess resources and provides income to the CS.
Also, depending on the situation: If the gross monthly income of the CS, including income from the CSRA and the income that is considered available from the IS, is less than the CSMMNA, the couple can protect additional resources from the couple’s non-protected share in order to generate the income necessary to fully fund the CSMMNA. (DRA of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-171) § 6013)
There are also other things, like say there's a mortgage left on the house. Resources can be reduced by paying off the mortgage as long as the need for medicaid is AFTER the excess resources are spent down on this "nonqualifying" item. I say nonqualifying because if a retroactive date is needed instead (say back to July rather than forward to Sept) resources would need to be reduced on qualifying items (medical bills, irrevocable burial or nursing home bills) to authorize retroactively.
Also if they have LTCI, then that slows down (but doesn't eliminate) the reduction of resources. Consult an elder law attorney is the best advice.
one car (if more than one is owned the highest equity value car is exempt and the lower one(s) are counted)
house (primary)
community spouse's retirement accounts (401k/IRA, etc)
community spouse's income
life insurance with face under $1500 (if face value is $1500 or more cash value is counted, minus $1000 disregard)
burial reserve (if irrevocable) and spaces/plots
all other resources (IS's retirement accounts, stocks/bonds, bank accounts, annuities with cash surrender value, CDs whether joint or individual) are counted but the CS gets to keep a protected share which is half of the total countable resources (as of the day of admission) up to a maximum amount. This year it's $154,140.
If the CS wants to protect more than that, they should contact an elder law attorney, generally to purchase a medicaid compliant annuity which reduces the excess resources and provides income to the CS.
Also, depending on the situation: If the gross monthly income of the CS, including income from the CSRA and the income that is considered available from the IS, is less than the CSMMNA, the couple can protect additional resources from the couple’s non-protected share in order to generate the income necessary to fully fund the CSMMNA. (DRA of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-171) § 6013)
There are also other things, like say there's a mortgage left on the house. Resources can be reduced by paying off the mortgage as long as the need for medicaid is AFTER the excess resources are spent down on this "nonqualifying" item. I say nonqualifying because if a retroactive date is needed instead (say back to July rather than forward to Sept) resources would need to be reduced on qualifying items (medical bills, irrevocable burial or nursing home bills) to authorize retroactively.
Also if they have LTCI, then that slows down (but doesn't eliminate) the reduction of resources. Consult an elder law attorney is the best advice.
Statistics: Posted by arcticpineapplecorp. — Sat Aug 03, 2024 2:22 pm — Replies 2 — Views 162