Eldercare Resource Planning

Elder Care Resource Planning is committed to helping American families understand and access their Medicaid and Veteran's benefits successfully. Our mission is multifaceted and the primary goal is to obtain benefits for those in need of long term care. This frequently impacts not only the elder's well-being and finances but often affects the elder's loved ones, and frequently the home. We are often asked how one can protect the home of the Medicaid recipient from estate recovery. Following are some facts about how Medicaid treats the home and some suggestions on how other families have successfully dealt with protecting the home from recovery. If the elderly is single and his or her principal place of residence is their home (or condominium), it is an excluded asset during the Medicaid recipient's lifetime-subject to a few restrictions discussed below. There are limits to the value of the house owned by a single person. Federal law says the equity interest (fair market value, less mortgage) in the home must not exceed $814,000 to be protected. The states, which run the Medicaid program separately for each state on behalf of the federal government, can reduce this value. If the Medicaid recipient is married and the community spouse remains in the home, the home is excluded regardless of the value. The home consists of the building, the land it sits on, and all contiguous land and outbuildings.