What Is The Role Of Medicaid In Planning For My Aging Parent’s Future?
In Florida, there are two primary roles of Medicaid in planning for an aging parent’s future. First, Florida ICP Medicaid program can greatly assist many people with their nursing home bills. Florida Medicaid laws require that the parent’s income be paid to the nursing home with certain small deductions. After that, the state of Florida will pay the difference between the income-related payment and the actual cost of the nursing home. That way, the nursing home bill will be paid in full.
The next role that Medicaid can play is through a different type of Medicaid program called the long-term care waiver program. In the state of Florida, the long-term care waiver program can contribute between $1100 and $1400 per month towards assisted living care. In addition, it can sometimes provide 10 to 40 hours per week of in-home care benefits. These Medicaid programs allow the state benefits to help subsidize the cost of long-term care so that it frees up some assets to pay for additional care and quality of life for the aging parent – because nursing homes will never care for your parent as well as you do… but you need to sleep sometimes.
What Components Constitute the Best Plan in Caring For My Aging Parents?
There are four main components that constitute the best plan to care for aging parents: education, proper authority granting, communication, and irrevocable trust planning.
If we are looking for the best plan, then that would require a high level of education about the available options. The aging parent, the primary caregiver, and other children would be engaged in this education process so that they could both know how assisted living looks compared to a nursing home, what assisted living facilities and nursing homes provide and do not provide, the cost of each, and how to go about paying for one or the other. The parent and the primary caregiver need to be educated about the time limit commitment required in order to meet certain care needs, which can arise if someone has dementia versus a condition that leaves them bedbound.
The next component in creating the best plan to care for aging parents is to have proper authority- granting documents and to consider if checks and balances are needed due to the family dynamics situation. The primary cause of sibling strife and conflict as it relates to aging parents usually has to do with (1) who will have control over the financials of the aging parent, and (2) managing feelings of resentment between the caregiver who feels like she has to do everything and the other siblings who may be distrustful or feel slighted. If the parents plan ahead of time before any mental decline has occurred and we have proof of absence of mental decline, then these conflicts can often be headed off and an elder law attorney can help balance risk. If there is a potential sibling conflict, then we would need to determine checks and balances between the siblings. Alternatively, a trusted company, professional guardian, attorney or CPA might need to be involved as a mediator to assist in making decisions.
The third component for a best plan of care is communication between the parent and the caregiver regarding specifics of care. If properly educated, parents and caregivers can have a full conversation about how the aging parent’s plan can be implemented in terms of what medical decisions should be made in specific situations, which bills have priority over others, and what asset management decisions have priority over others. The communication between the parent and caregiver will create a bond between them that will be very solid and provide a good framework for trust, especially if it is obvious that the plan is being implemented. Communication can also involve some degree of communication with other children who may not be the primary caregiver. If that’s the case, then it’s important to state just enough information in order to prevent future conflicts between the caregiver and non-caregiving siblings.
The last component that constitutes the best plan is determining whether or not to use an irrevocable trust. For anyone who has assets and investments that exceed $200,000 there are irrevocable trusts that can be placed to preserve a great deal of funds. If the parent does not need principal distributions from the assets and has a trusted family member, then using an irrevocable trust might wise. The irrevocable income only trust can be very useful but requires a partial loss of control on behalf of the parent. If there is a good bond between the parent and the caregiver, then the irrevocable trust will provide the best solution prospectively to protect assets for care.
For more information on Role Of Medicaid In Elder Care Planning, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (904) 398-6100 today.
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