I have money in the bank that equals my credit card debt I've sadly built up while unemployed due to back and knee surgery and inability to work. I'm on commission, so no sales, no income or salary at all. If you add my debt and cash assets together, I'm bankrupt but you can't declare bankruptcy for credit cards, nor do I want to. It's my debt, I have to find a way to pay it off hopefully when I'm well again to work at which time, I probably won't qualify for Medicaid any longer either. But income wise I continue to today. I just turned 65 and got Medicare and don't have an 18 year old or younger in my home. I was getting Medicaid from the NYState Marketplace until this happened. Their rules state that I must now get Medicaid with my Local Dept of Soc. Services. The Marketplace never asked about assets on hand, and the application for LDSS does, but not about corresponding debt or even write offs, so I'm concerned if I'll lose my eligibility even though I really don't have any money when you factor in my debt. I've read that you can't have more than $2,000 cash and apply for Long Term Care (LTC) but I'm not. Just Medicaid which is used my my Dual Medicare Medicaid Empire Advantage Plan, which I hope I can keep which all depends on having Medicaid and Medicare. The Marketplace transferred my account to LDSS and apparently I was awarded/enrolled in NY Medicaid over from the Marketplace. I just need to submit LDSS's application which is done, but before I send it, I wanted to know about my money in my savings account which is a bit less than my credit card debt. Thank you.
The only debts you cannot discharge in bankruptcy are....some (most) student loans, some (special cases) tax debt, judgements against you for personal liability (like hurting someone while drunk driving).
Oddly, once you turn 65.. the "old Medicaid" rules apply. Your assets are no also considered in the mix. You will need to meet the spend down limits to qualify.
So to get Medicaid for medical expenses or in my case, keep it, I have spend down my $28,000 ($13,000 IRA + $15,000 savings) down to $26,000?
My savings is the only money I have to pay rent, my monthly credit card debt and basic living expenses since I'm not earning money due to my surgeries. If I only have $2000 to my name, I'll be homeless. Literally. Is that how this works? Everyone who has Medicaid only has $2,000 to their name? This is tough. The NYState Marketplace Medicaid only cared about your income being less than I think it was $17,000 which is my situation. They expect you to cash in your IRA too? Thanks.
To clear something up: I'm recovering from surgeries and haven't worked or earned anything in 6 months and am below the annual Medicaid income limit. All that I have is money in the bank that I've saved over the years which means after taxes. We're told all our lives to save and now, if I'm understanding Medicare's rules, if you do save and can't work, you still can lose or not get Medicaid?
Thanks!