Understanding Medicaid
What is Medicaid?
Understanding Medicaid
Who is Eligible for Medicaid & Should I Apply?
Medicaid is an insurance program managed jointly by federal and state governments for low-income people over 65, disabled individuals and people with children. Both state and federal rule determine who is eligible for coverage, what health services are covered and any co-payments that may be required from beneficiaries.
To qualify for Medicaid, a person must complete a state application and verify his or her income and savings or other assets that might be used to cover the cost of medical care/housing.
Some facilities have a cap on how many Medicaid-receiving residents they can have in their facility at a time. Most facilities also ask for residents to have a certain amount of private pay funds to “spend down” there before they convert to Medicaid.
Federal policy may require states to examine your financial history for the previous five years to assure you have not transferred assets out of your name to avoid using them for health care costs. Each year, people must renew their Medicaid coverage by completing a Medicaid review form that assesses how their incomes and assets have changed over the past year.
If you attempt to submit an application on your own, it may take as long as 4 months or longer, but typically it doesn’t go through and most likely, you will not hear from the county. It is a long and detailed process… There are 2 screens- financial and medical. A person must meet the qualifications for both areas. People should apply about 3-4 months before their funds run out. The average time for our specialists to get their applications approved is 2-3 months, with some being approved in as little as 3-4 weeks.
If you need help applying for Long Term Care Medicaid, Heart 2 Heart 4 Seniors has senior advocates who have had years of experience with Medicaid. There is a small fee but it is well worth it, because it is a long and tedious process to complete and follow through with the Long Term Care Medicaid application. We would be glad to assist you through this process!