Medicaid Urban Legends

Welcome to finishing well brought to you by Cardinal.com certified financial planner Schild best-selling author and financial planner helping families finish well over 40 years of finishing well will examine both biblical and practical knowledge to assist families in finishing well, including discussions on managing Medicare IRA long-term care life insurance and investments and taxes. Now let's get started with finishing well today is finishing well. We freaking concept urban legend about Medicaid urban legends, you know, when you look at the book of Jeremiah he has this verse in Jeremiah 616 that says stand at the crossroads and ask you know where is the ancient paths. How do I walk in those in and interestingly, that a lot of people ask when it comes to Medicaid what they might beget themselves and for icons. Yeah, I know we came to the term urban legend because I started with the word misconception and it's really come upon me. Just as I'm working with new clients coming in just how many misconceptions people have about the kennel work that I do so they been relying on some fact that they think is a fact, and when we you and I were talking were sitting here will will come word misconception can sounds a little heady in high English and all that kind of thing and then I said was really an urban legend you know and you surprised as you told me that you know that I began to think about what Medicaid isn't and I am his friend. Dear friend, you know him. I've been and he's in his 80s and light eventually and now he'd been high on the idea of you know when he needed long-term care Medicaid was to be his answer and so actually helped him get an attorney to figure out how to whittle down his assets so that he would qualify for Medicaid which essentially means you gotta have nothing and you know give away everything you had said that he you know he would qualify for Medicaid which I didn't know at the time but I now understand Medicaid would probably rather than call it something like Medicare. It should be called.

Sort of like geriatric welfare it.

It's when you got nothing else that you, like a ward of the state situation, and so when all of a sudden he found himself in the hospital and needing to actually go into a long-term care facility. He was hoping oh I got Medicaid. I can go almost anywhere right there to take what the government offers and get out wonderful assisted living that I help do devotions and for years out Marksville and he's like Robbie him to get out there that's gonna be awesome that intake Medicaid in this mountain and all the ones locally didn't take Medicaid or they took Medicaid and they were full because some of their Medicaid beds. Some of their beds are allocated or their rooms are allocated for Medicaid and ones that do take Medicaid and then the rest are full with paying customers. The next thing he knows the only one I can find for him is way it is in Thomasville way away from his family and you know tile floors and not the kind of place that I would want to spend the rest my days will yeah and so I had a client that was in to see me your person is considering becoming client and she's becoming a client that had her misconception or the urban legend that she kinda took as just a grant because you can read a lot about the stuff in the news and on the Internet normally give all my assets away from you to do something with an attorney and then I'll just qualify for Medicaid and they get just as good a care as the private pay people so why would I pay for something I can get for free from the government that was just a big Jim really thought through it much. She just made that assumption that that's what you do at some point for mom and dad okay and she relied on that through all of her decision-making that she's been making for years and when we sat down and we looked at things. I told her a story prospectively, but from my own experience of just like your Thomasville story and I just I said that you know you're not can be able to go to the place you want to go then secondly I can alike click here that you're going to get in that place and they may just send you off to a town 50 miles away when you know given that you did qualify and so she just immediately rolled it out let's let's let's move those not do that and then you know it's it's just it's it's a misconception or an urban legend that I can when I get when the time comes for a few years before the time comes, I'm in a just give my assets away or given to my kids do whatever minute do whatever we do is this lawyer that you sent your friend to we we do that, work in our office and we hit we have an attorney and she does elder law planning and it's it's very small part of our work in most of the time were doing it for people that are almost there any there down to their a small amount of thousands of dollars so there are headed to Medicaid. Anyhow, because they've got a small amount of money and then we will get them planned and into Medicaid facility through some slides.

It's a lot easier to work with $40,000 and it is 400,000 all you might be wondering at this point where my listening to you listen to finishing well with certified financial planner homicidal and finishing well from a standpoint of you know we begin to think about this point in our life and how we can make planning for that in ponds is the author of the part of the complete cardinal guy planning for and living in retirement course today were talking about long-term care as a mean I was as Medicaid or Medicare or both, things are involved in that and they are seven worries that are@cardinalguy.com you can get the chapter the book absolutely free download right there it cardinal guy.com right on the leg again.

I mean you go if you wanted to find today's topic you go to Col. guy.com you knew the seven worries tab you click on long-term care you can find a lot of information there including you can find the long-term care chapter of this book. You can also find the long-term care chapter in the workbook you can download for free. You also can purchase the book and if you want to write me a note if you want to get a hold of this information. I'll be glad to send it to you at no charge. Just send us a message there Col. guy.com. The reason I'm glad were talking about Medicaid today and what were also talking about is the adult children of aging parents.

So that's a lot of our work were were working where with parents that are in their 80s or 90s and they need care right now or there in care or they're looking forward in, they certainly can't buy long-term care insurance, which is something that will actually there is one type of thing we can do in planning for the most part they're not coming into assaying how much would it cost me for a long-term care policy but were not talking to mom and dad were talking to their adult children. So if you're in your 40s 50s 60s. Even your 30s, possibly your 70s and your parents are still around or your in-laws are still around and perhaps you're doing better financially than their doing. We have a lot of people in that where the baby boomers have they been successful.

They've exceeded their parents and now they feel a need and in two to take care of their parents to provide for care to care form in their homes to provide for the care so alone live in different cities. So were dealing with a client. Now that lives in California but mom and dad live right here and or we have some clients that are right here in mom and dad lives in California and regardless, this is a responsibility.

It's an obligation. It's something people want to do that they can do and back to the misconception is there thinking that what they need to do is get mom and dad on Medicaid and we certainly can arrange some of that we do planning through an attorney that works in conjunction with this. I really really want to do in today's show is just talk a little bit about do you really want to do that because many of these you know places that have the better care don't even accept Medicare, Medicaid, they don't and so you you you know the kind of places that I know my friend wanted to go and was thinking out. Come to find out those test unavailable for people that are on Medicaid. You really when you go on Medicaid. You lose your choices and we were talking about this earlier that like in my own planning and financial planning and care planning and long-term care when I'm really buying with that is it up. Hopefully a much later date. Perhaps when I'm in my 70s or my 80s when I have a need for care is I want choices I want my family to have choices and I don't really need to state what those choices are right now I'm it's pretty obvious he could be home care could be an assisted living. It could be a particular facility that may be radically different. 15 years from now, 20 years from now, but what I wanted to point what I want my family to have her choices about how I care for myself and how they care for me and what setting that's in how were paying for it.

He and it certainly doesn't include a government welfare program writes there was.

Jeremiah says one of the best things you can begin by death is ask ask for the ancient past, and walk in them today were talking about Medicaid urban legends and long-term care with certified financial planner homicidal and a can the book is complete. Cardinal guide to planning for living in retirement. It's at cardinal guy.com as well as all these resources and information complete ways to get up with. Obviously Hans and his staff.

If you want to ask him those questions but one of the things we would urge people is asked somebody and try to get to the facts and at the bottom of these things and we come back we got more thought a lot more of those questions that really ought to be asked when it comes to this kind of care. We hope you are enjoying finishing well brought you by cardinal guy.com is a cardinal guy.com for free downloads of previous shows, including episodes about Social Security and Medicare, IRAs, long-term care, life insurance, investments and taxes as well as Hans best-selling book, the complete cardinal guy planning for and living in retirement. Plus the accompanying workbook. If you want to follow along with today's topic download free PDF cardinal guy.com by going to the seven worries tab of today's show topic, just scroll down to useful documents once again for free resources shows go to get Hans book the complete cardinal planning for and living in retirement or the workload cardinal guy.com you have a question, comment or suggestion for future shows. Click on finishing well radio show and send us a word. Once again, that's cardinal. I.com cardinal God.com now finishing well you by Arnold guide.com welcome back to finishing well. Today's show is data the urban legends of Medicaid and conjunction with Jeremiah 6 standing at the crossroads asked for the ancient past market member. No other things that helps you down. You know life is is beginning to ask the question. You know what's the right way to go and so Hans, what are some what.

If you think about Medicaid. What are some of the questions that you want to ask well like what are the qualifications to Medicaid can mean a lot of folks think that the government just goes in and seizes your property and seizes your money in the negative use that for Medicaid. That's not how it works at all. You have with Medicaid. You have this thing called spin down so particular client.

If their parents resources are like over $300,000 if is is is she actually would've learned this from instead of a financial planner, but from the actual Medicaid social workers with a would've told her is you spend down your $300,000 you spend that you pay for care when you spend it down to $2000 and you got all that. That's all that's left are in the case of a couple, you could separate some of it out.

You spend your own money first and you spend anywhere you want, you spend it on care. You spend it when it's gone then will put you on Medicaid. So the first question again to just repeat it is is one of the qualifications for Medicaid. That's one of them got a be down to the numbers under $2000 in the second qualification is you need to have.

You have essentially no income so all your income is going to go toward paying the nursing home care. So you need to be spending all your income like your Social Security check and then the difference between the cost of the care and the Social Security check Medicaid can pay them for you but you know if you had an income of $5000 a month or just an attorney down and say you don't qualify because spend your resources when resources are gone.

Just continue to spend your income maybe you would qualify for a little bit getting back to the this is really welfare for people above a certain age but it yeah and people make the assumption over the misconception of the urban legend, whatever were calling it is all I can just give my money away to my kids and a lawyer can it in their actually look the part right is that there's a lot of planning moves and there's things it's hard to do but it can be done and what what I'm doing on the topic of the show is do you really want to do that.

Me, Jesus, go to the very end and say what is the care look like under Medicaid and with the story of your friend that you told the beginning of the episode of the answer to that is no okay so then the next question there to be asking Lawton. So now that I'm cleared up on that and I realized at one little picture from a friend standpoint it really just breaks my heart is that you would think that you could call this facility because I do a call. I just talked to this friend every day because he didn't have a lot of people Guatemala family and it was like this one of my choice to call my friend and talk to him every day. Let me tell you what it's like today is one phone for the entire facility for all the people that are there and so usually that's in somebody else's room and it rings and rings and rings and rings and you get somebody on the phone that I have no clue what you're talking about that you want to talk to your friend and they just hang up on you, but if you're lucky enough after ring 40 times to get maybe one of the nurses or somebody else and then you say what can I talk to my friend and about half the time the phone still gets gone before you ever get on the line and when I used to talk to my friend every day at a certain time I called. Actually when I was on my way back from lunch, I would call in everyday I hear you speak being taken care by his talk that is not how it works anymore. My poor friend II can't even you know, three out of four times I call I can't even talk to him Hans and it breaks my heart but the mean that's that's where it but he did exactly that.

He gave all his money Tuesday eight went to the lawyer did the whole deal and that's Medicaid okay so so you know if the folks I was talking to if they had $70,000 between and they had a small income, then this would've been a more practical solution in an unfortunate solution but we probably would figure out a way to take the $70,000 in apportionment so that we can do some of it with the daughter, whatever. So we have some money on the sidelines and then get Medicaid would probably do something smarter than just spend it down, but if you've got $307,000 will that's can be a lot spend down time and others to him.

In this case, so maybe it wouldn't be more than a couple three years with her smarter ways to do things okay and so one of those ways is we we we now have actually long-term care insurance through the use of an annuity that can the people can take some portion of the 300,000. Not all of it and put it in annuity that's going to pay a guaranteed amount of money for as long as these two people that that's an oversimplification, but here's the good news and not going into that kind of facility they're going into someplace right that is a level of care that you would hope for your family proceed with this with this lady is the Medicaid options is not. She and Sen. parents anywhere there there in her home now and sheet sheet sheet sheet out send them anywhere.

She's in keep the status quo. She's paying out of her pocket for their care as she has to go to work and she's out working in your business so like the Medicaid option is just she's Artie ruled that out and I would suggest that if you're looking after your parents, and maybe they're not at the place, these people are but they're not far away, and they've got some substantial money which I'm calling these people's substantial money through $400,000 in assets there. There's a lot of things we can do sitting down to put a plan together to pay for the care and to get it in the facility that is suitable to them salute looming did not get into the details of that product is just solutions for options like your talk about and moving forward as you plan, you know that's the beauty of asking the question is now you can begin to to see what your options really are and how to plan towards that and that's the point I want to make to the people that are probably listening to the show there thinking about this.

Who's going to take care of me if I'm not going to rely on Medicaid. When am I going to do with my assets and that's been the topic of a lot of our other long-term care shows as we get into bits and pieces of you know what type of long-term care insurance that you can get and there's many types of it and today when I can have time to do this is were, zeroed in on this one.

Subject to people that are facing it right now there are financial planning options and there really to some degree required so that everybody comes across the table from me. We do financial planning with. I'm going to have the long-term care.

Talk with them now. They don't necessarily need to implement something that I I don't see a lot of point in sitting down with a 65-year-old person and planning out the next 30 years of their money without putting together a consideration.

What if one of you has a stroke.

What if one of you develops dementia you need care whether that care is going to be in your home where you going to go to facility to an assisted living facility.

We wanted to be a nice facility how we can pay for that. So the point I want to make is you can go to Col. guy.com you can go under the long-term care tab of the under the seven worries you can pull up the chapters of my book you can read those you could really construct the whole book. If you'll just send me a message I'll be glad to send the book to you and again that's I can make you an expert in this would've done in the books is just laid out some of the things you can do from a planning standpoint to prepare yourself so that you will have those options are your family will have those options for the county care you deserve and the other beautiful thing is there's no urban legends. There hear you're getting something you know that is obviously from certified financial planner, but you know there's plenty of research that goes into this to make it a put you on the right path which is all part of asking for the eight this is the right path, not what people think is the way to go and and that of come on and of the end the hard way and the idea of the show is finishing well and obviously were looking at for our family, but were looking for for ourselves as well. Per finishing well is having choices mean being able to and that's really what financial planning is all about is you want to have the choices in retirement to live where you want to live to be able to do for your children and your grandchildren the way you would like to you one of be able to obviously put food on the table, perhaps to do some traveling. Whatever it is that floats your boat is his financial planning and good sound planning is going to buy you in the future choices and one of the other urban legend. I got just touch on first second conferences financial planning is not just for the wealthy at it, by any stretch of imagination it it's it's not for the people.

It even have $100,000 in retirement or whatever it is a matter fact it requires almost probably more planning for somebody who has unlimited amount of resources than it does the person that have tons of.

I have stories in my book.

People that have just about that amount saved up and we've put together a plan for long-term care with a pension with Social Security the story and thinking about as a teacher sure and weak.

We do our best work for the people that are in these folk situation where they have very limited resources.

In fact we do a lot of financial planning, especially for veterans pro bono satire and that and so we we deftly want to get at that out there because I know some people think that for the people that have to get $1000 I only have 50 you know whatever the situation is, but I would say you know the those people are really good benefit from the wisdom hugely so that they don't end up where their friends can't call the minute it dictates it to heartbreaker, but I hate were running out of time, but we want to send you again to Carr Doug I.com and there you can you know email hides himself he can download these chapters of the book you get the whole book is what is it cost $3.03 15 is a dollar 99 out each book on the Kindle and its 799 on Amazon if you get the paper book and if you're a Amazon prime is free shipping or you just send me a something on Col. guy.com. The Hansson is a free book offer whatever I'll be glad to send it out to either digital e-book or mail you a copy of the paper on his child carnal guy.com thanks, thanks. We hope you enjoyed finishing well brought you by carnal guy.com visit Cardinal. I.com for free downloads of the show previous shows on topics such as Social Security, Medicare and IRAs, long-term care, life insurance, investments and taxes as well as constant best-selling book the complete guide to planning for and living in retirement and the workbook once again for dozens of free resources past shows get Hans book go to Cardinal do I.com if you have a question, comment or suggestion for future shows. Click on the finishing well radio show on the website and send us a word. Once again that's Cardinal guy.com guy.com