Overview of Medicaid planning

As anyone in the San Jose area probably knows from experience, medical care is expensive.

It gets even more expensive as a person ages because they may require addition visits to the doctor and, eventually, placement in a nursing home or other assisted living facility.

Some Californians are fortunate enough to be able to afford the hundreds of thousands of dollars it could cost to stay in a nursing home, while others perhaps succeeded in purchasing enough long-term care insurance or making other financial plans.

For many, though, Medicaid, which is referred also to as Medi-Cal in this state, may be the only hope for affording long-term care. The trick to this is that Medicaid is reserved only for those with low income and few to no assets with which pay for a nursing home themselves.

This means that people may have to make a painful choice between getting the care they need and holding on to their savings that perhaps they hoped to pass on to family.

Successful Medicaid planning can mean a person can leave a legacy

Medicaid planning is the term to refer to a series of legal steps a California resident can take in order to preserve their assets and still be able to qualify for Medicaid when they need it.

For example, certain forms of property are exempt, meaning that they are not counted when the state is determining a person’s eligibility for Medicaid.

Likewise, planned transfers, including gifts, may be under the right circumstances be made to relatives without any adverse consequences. However, it is important for people to start this process early and to have the right guidance when doing so.

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