Medicaid Rules

What's the Difference Between Medicare and Medicaid in the Context of Long-Term Care?

Although their names are confusingly alike, Medicaid and Medicare are quite different programs.

Can an IRA Affect Medicaid Eligibility?

For many Medicaid applicants, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are one of their biggest assets. If you do not plan properly, IRAs can count as an available asset and affect Medicaid eligibility.

Medicaid Expansion Signups Hindered By Fear of Estate Recovery

A fear that the government will seize their house after they die is causing some people to not sign up for expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Staying Eligible for Medicaid after the Death of a Spouse

When one member of a couple moves to a nursing home, we expect that spouse will be the first to die, but this isn’t always the case. What happens if a Medicaid recipient's spouse dies first?...

Medicaid's Attempt to Ensure the Healthy Spouse Is Not Impoverished: The CSRA

The "community spouse resource allowance" or CSRA assures that the spouses of Medicaid applicants will be able to keep at least some of the couple's assets. ...

Medicaid's Attempt to Ensure the Healthy Spouse Has Enough Income: The MMMNA

What if most of a couple's income is in the name of the institutionalized spouse and the income of the spouse living in the community is not enough to live on? Medicaid has created some protections.

Can Life Insurance Affect Your Medicaid Eligibility?

In order to qualify for Medicaid, you can't have more than $2,000 in assets (in most states). Many people forget about life insurance when calculating their assets, but depending on the type of life insurance and the value of the...