Posted on 10/26/2013 11:39:29 AM PDT by narses
Is the estate recovery policy really anything like Communism, though? The individual or couple (after they die, usually) is paying back the state for what the state (taxpayers) spent on them. Which is, in effect, paying back the taxpayers, since the recovered funds are then used for current expenses.
Looks like my estate, if anything is left, will be subject to this — which makes me queasy — but I can see the morally responsible argument for doing so.
The kicker of it is, if you make the right amount to qualify for a subsidized health insurance plan, your costs are going to be shared and subsidized by the government. But if you go on Medicaid, you owe the entire amount that Medicaid spends on you from the day you turn 55.
This is the way they'll make people sign up for ObamaCare. A person who thinks they can wait until they get sick to sign up spends a month or two on medicaid when the 'unthinkable' happens and they lose everything. A month in a hospital can easily run into hundreds of thousands of dollars... Obama has targeted the working class person who doesn't have insurance because he can't afford it, but feels safe because if 'bad goes to worse' he can get on medicaid. Now that security blanket is gone... wait on health insurance, go on medicaid, and lose everything.
Interesting in a thuggy kind of way.
I have 6 siblings, several years ago, My mom, age 93 decided to put her house in my sisters' name. I didn't know about it at the time and normally I would not have been against it, because I already knew what my sisters found out later.
When they decide to sell my mother's house, to divide up the proceeds, they will be liable for taxes on the sale of it, since it is not their primary residence. They put it back in her name.
So far mom has gotten along just fine without medicaid. She has 7 children who love her and help with her needs. That's the way it's supposed to be.
California is one. I manage my 100 year old mother’s assets while she is in “assisted living”. She is not on Medical (California version of Medicaid) but her Trust is designed to protect her assets so if she does need to go into Medical (should she take a turn for the worse before she dies and need a skilled nursing facility) her assets remain untouched within her trust.
I don’t understand how all this is possible, but an attorney set it up and assures us that it is all legal under California law. Her current maintenance costs about $1500 more per month than her retirement income. Her retirement checks go into her checking account, and I move most of them immediately upon deposit to her Trust account and then pay her bills out of her Trust. She is gradually spending down her Trust, but she has the assurance that she will be eligible for Medical, should she need it.
If you have an elderly parent in California, I suggest you contact an attorney and set up something similar for that person. It cost us about $6000, but the attorney took care of transferring the title to her house into the Trust so that it was easy to handle when we sold it.
I am a just a few years behind you since my mother is 96.
Your comment is well-written and informative.
Do you know if the trust can be set up at any time or does it need to be formed five years prior to the Medicaid enrollment? If there is an advance requirement like that we probably are out of time.
Best wishes to your mother.
Read it. It applies to ALL Medical Bills from someone who has used any portion for Long Tern Care.
no. nor do they go after house if the spouse is dead if there is a disabled child living in the house
“So far mom has gotten along just fine without medicaid.”
Good for her,especially at 93. I’m just a kid,I’m 81.:-)
That said, I haven’t a clue about the tax situation which I’ll check out. The attorney I used said there wouldn’t be any.
Always something.
.
As they should.
In California it can be any time. We set up my mother’s Family Trust when she was hospitalized in orthopaedic rehab after breaking her leg — age 98. Her X-rays showed her skeleton looking like Swiss cheese, and we know that she is highly vulnerable to potential falls. She’s in assisted living and getting assistence for just about everything, except eating, right now.
“When they decide to sell my mother’s house, to divide up the proceeds, they will be liable for taxes on the sale of it, since it is not their primary residence. They put it back in her name. “
Do a “Life Estate” with your mom being the primary owner and one or all of her siblings as “remainder owners”.
I think it actually am unintended consequence. Before you aren't supposed to be in Medicaid health plans if you have any appreciable assets. But this recovery was intended for log term care, especially of one spouse while the other keeps the home.
As they should, but are these Obamacare victims being informed. I can see some 55 year old retiree with retirement accounts and a house but out of work who says, "Goody-goody I can float free to 65".
people often spend down to get on medicaid...medicaid pays for everything, including all medications....
I see nothing wrong with going after the estate...
a person is usually able to keep their house...but if Mom is on Medicaid, you can bet that when she dies, the govt will seek to be reinbursed.
there is a cost for living a long, long life, and that is that it costs money for drs, medicines,physical therapy, nursing home care, etc...
But it’s the right thing to do, IMO.
Sure, if you’re poor you shouldn’t starve or go without shelter or healthcare. But you shouldn’t be able to have those things funded, by the force of government, by your fellow Americans—and not pay it back if you are subsequently able to.
A lot of ‘estate planning’ now is the sheltering of older people’s assets, so they can get other people’s children to fund their healthcare—while passing their own assets on to their own children.
Exactly. A completely unfair gaming of the system.
No, mom gets house until she no longer needs it. Some families give their house to their children to avoid having the state get it.
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