Case Study # 1 Bob B. came to our office on 8/21/00. His wife with Alzheimer's had been in a nursing home since February. Bob was paying $2,500 a month for her care. Bob lives in a modest home that they have owned for years. He had CDs, IRAs, Bonds, Stock, an Annuity, and a checking account that all together totaled over $215,000. While they had saved money over their lifetime, Bob was realizing that at $30,000 a year, what nest egg that they had would be depleted rapidly. Their total fixed income was $1,800 a month, so Bob was forced to withdraw money from their savings every month to pay for his wife's care and to maintain the homestead for himself. Bob had been to his Attorney, his CPA, and his Banker. All had told him the same thing: "There is nothing you can do." "Until you spend down your money, you can't get any help." Nothing was further from the truth. We helped Bob structure his assets to conform to the Medicaid guidelines by directing the accounts that fell under the spousal impoverishment amount of $84,120 (That amount has since been raised to $87,000.) and making the other $130,000 an income for Bob that is considered non-available to Medicaid. We made application to the Medicaid office in November 2000, and on March 2, 2001 were informed that Bob's wife was qualified for Medicaid - retroactive to the date of application. Bob's wife is in the same facility, receiving the same quality of care as before. The only difference is that Bob will not have to deplete his life savings in order to provide the necessary care for his wife.

© 2007 S.A.F.E. Planning. Inc.