[sickoflibs]

RE :”You still get docked for expenses by Medicare going out 5 years before your death. The people who you gave money to would be responsible for the bill. “

Read yourself.

Medicaid Estate Recovery(HHS April 2005 )

[sickoflibs]

It may be in the state laws where that happens.

I see this at link buried that implies something:
“Federal policy defers to states regarding how they track or monitor assets that pass to protected relatives in cases where the State retains its right to future recoveries from Medicaid recipients’ survivors. There are logistical problems inherent in keeping track of assets for long periods of time, and figuring out which of the survivor’s assets originally belonged to the deceased Medicaid beneficiary presents a number of practical problems. In addition, some states waive future recoveries to avoid the ugly task of collecting from those relatives long after their loved one’s death or years later when they decide to move to another home. How much potential Medicaid revenue is lost when a state elects this option is not known.”

[FreeReign]

Medicare doesn't pay nursing home expenses until after you run out of money. A person can give their money away to try to avoid nursing home expenses but there are two problems.

1.) They can only give away 14K a year to each of their kids.

2.) A lien will be put on any gift that occurs within five years of running out of money for any nursing home expenses.

Those are the general rules.