Many people mistakenly believe "the state will take everything" in the event they have to go into a nursing home. This is not true. Medicaid is a medical benefit program which can pay for the cost of the nursing home if certain asset and income tests are met. Our office can assist the stay-at-home spouse with asset and income protection when the other spouse enters a care facility. The cost of nursing home care in Nevada is currently about $4,600 per month.

In order to qualify for Medicaid, applicants must pass a strict eligibility test for the amount of income and assets they can keep.

The stay-at-home, or "community" spouse is also entitled to keep the Community Spouse's Resource Allowance, a significant amount of assets which can be increased by court order, as well as a Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance. If the spouse does not have sufficient income, he or she may be awarded income of the institutionalized spouse by court order. If the applicant's income is over the "income cap", and he or she is not eligible for Medicaid, a court-ordered income reduction trust can achieve eligibility.

There is much MIS-information regarding Medicaid Benefits, and too often our clients come to us after spending tens of thousands of dollars which could have been protected.

Our office can assist with Medicaid eligibility issues and long-term care planning, as well as other asset protection issues.