The only asset mom has is her co op worth roughly $100,000. It is about to be sold, closing is on the 12th of this month. Medicaid has asked for the five year bank statements. The lawyer has made a list of withdrawals and deposits for all transactions over 2 grand. I can provide some proof of items but not all. How can we get proof of where the money went to provide for Medicaid? Will we have that penalty period? And what will happen to her sale of the co op. I’m guessing it will all be handed to nursing home.
How JoAnn described it for her mom’s application is similar to my mom’s. Caseworker is looking for “consistency” is pretty perfect description.
Remember caseworker has your mom’s awards letters - from SS or other retirements- that state to the penny what income is & has been for current & proceeding years and has old bank statements. So if SS pays her $20k a yr and 5 yrs ago she had $150k in savings and has continued to live in her mortgage free condo with a $200 HOA mo and now she’s at 2k impoverishment where did basically 250k go? Medicaid is an equation, a formula, an algorithm when it comes to $$$. Atty - if a true elder law atty imo - should know how the math problem is done for your states LTC medicaid application system. It’s not rocket science.
For my mom, it was 3 yrs of bank statements. It was less than 5 as she had been in IL and apparently for those in IL or AL some states do shorter review as you kinda know where $ has gone as it’s been paid to the IL or AL. However, I had to provide a letter from her bank by bank Officer as to the disposition of all accounts for past 5 years. Mom had CDs and as they expired were not renewed but deposited in full into her checking account. The letter was precise..... CD # 12345 not renewed on expiration 9/8/2010 $5,678.90 into checking acct #9876 on 9/8/2010 for $5,678.90. It was clear clean obvious her $ went in full to checking account and then spent down for her IL or her home or other care or reasonable living costs. Had any of these been cashed out I’m sure she would have had a transfer penalty inquiry opened on her application.
Assuming condo sold at close to FMV, that 100k will be income to her month sold & then an asset all months afterwards. Either way, it makes her ineligible for Medicaid as she is no longer impoverished. Atty should know this and told you.
To me the ? to be answered is what is your states Medicaid position on assets acquired after an elder is Medicaid Pending or Medicaid eligibile.
- Does your state require mom to repay all cost paid to date by Medicaid?
- And if so paid within 30 days or less?
or
- is repayment taken at Act of Sale as your state allows for medicaid to be an unsecured lienholder on her home (& as a lienholder they must be paid proceeds from the sale in order for sale to go thru, this is super sticky and if it’s this scenario you need to let realtor know so it’s not a surprise).
Those are answers that your atty should know and know precisely. Personally, as I’m more of the bad witch school of management, I’d do a letter to the atty asking these questions with answers need ASAP & within 10 days by fax & certified mail both over to his office this week. If atty does not get back to you within 15 days and it’s 6 months still not cleared Medicaid is loco & imo atty inept.
Condo Sale @ 100k makes mom ineligible for Medicaid. No matter how anyone tries to spin it. If atty is pressing some sort of Trust to be created, I’d be wary. Post if that idea has been floated by atty.
Its her condo, her $.
She cannot gift or transfer $ to you. If she does, it places her into a transfer penalty by # of days placed on Medicaid eligibility.
If you have fronted costs on condo or atty or for her, Medicaid tends to look at that $ paid by you as done out of a sense of familial duty and not at all reimbursable. Imo you’d have a Memo of Understanding or Promissory Note in advance of spending on her or her property to be reimbursed. A better atty would have suggested this.
6 mos is long time for NH ok for Medicaid Pending. I’m surprised billing isn’t antsy abt the situation.
he can't there is a problem. You are paying for him to know the questions you r asking. If he doesn't then he needs to call Medicaid.
Here's how it worked in my state.
Hopefully you received Market Value for the Condo. If not, there could be a penalty there. Now that its sold, you will need to spend down that money for her care. In my state your allowed 2k in a bank acct. By the time you do that, your Medicaid application may have expired and you will need to apply again.
Medicaid may want to see the bankstatements not a list of withdrawls and deposits of 2k or more. They may want to see consistancy. Then they can spot any questionable withdrawals. (But then ur state may except what the lawyer is doing) When I provided Moms statements, the caseworker took 4 months a year to look at. Like one every quarter. I was lucky in that Moms checks were shown on the back of the statement. So the caseworker was able to see that a large withdrawal was Moms property taxes. If this is not something Moms bank provided, then maybe the bank could get you copies of the checks needed.
Hope this helps. Good luck.