Your mother has already qualified for Medicaid and it’s paying her nursing home expenses when she inherits $5,000 from her sister. The money is deposited into your mother’s savings account, and you forget about it, until it’s time for her Medicaid Renewal.
As your mother’s representative, you get her Medicaid Renewal Form in the mail. When you fill it out, you realize the inheritance has pushed your mother over her asset limit for Medicaid eligibility. Plus, it should have been reported immediately. The $5,000 wouldn’t even pay for a month of nursing home care, but now you’re worried it’s endangering your mother’s Medicaid coverage, and you’re not sure how to pay for the nursing home without it.
If you’re in stuck in situation like this, or have any concerns about the Medicaid Renewal process, connecting with Eldercare Resource Planning can help. We’re an integrated team of Certified Medicaid Planners, financial advisers and legal consultants with years of experience working with seniors, Medicaid Renewals and Medicaid systems all across the country.
Medicaid Renewal, which is also called Medicaid Redetermination or Medicaid Recertification, occurs at least once a year for all Medicaid recipients. They had to meet multiple requirements for eligibility when they first applied – two financial requirements (an asset limit and an income limit) and a functional or medical requirement – and Renewal makes sure they still meet all those requirements. The vast majority of Medicaid Renewals are focused on the financial requirements. Recipients must also continue to meet the functional requirement, but it’s rare for a health condition to improve so much in long-term care that a senior would no longer meet the functional requirement for their Medicaid program.
Medicaid recipients with very simple financial situations may not have to do anything during their Renewal because the state can access all of their financial information electronically and can confirm their eligibility. This is known as Automatic Renewal or Ex Parte Renewal. Most Medicaid recipients, however, will have to complete their Medicaid Renewal Form and provide proof of income and assets. That proof will be official documents from financial institutions that detail the Medicaid recipient’s accounts, tax forms, Social Security benefits letters, pension statements, etc. Copies of life insurance policies may also be needed. And if the Medicaid recipient is a homeowner and the value of their home has changed, that may also need to be documented.
Gathering all of this paperwork can be a very time-consuming process. If you don’t know what documents you need or where to look, it might take longer than the 15-30 days most states give Medicaid recipients to complete their Renewal Forms. But our Certified Medicaid Planners have completed thousands of these forms and they know what documents are needed and where to find them. They also know how to properly submit that paperwork and correctly fill out the Renewal Form so you or your loved one don’t lose coverage due to typo or a technicality. Get started now or complete the form below for more information.
