Watch Your Language: Resource
The third test in the Medicaid application process considers whether the applicant has too many resources. But what is a resource?[Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
October 18, 2016
Watch Your Language: D.R.A.
In 2005, Congress passed legislation which, among many, many other things, changed the way a Medicaid applicant’s resources and past transfers are considered. This bill is called the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and was signed by the President on February 8, 2006.[Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
October 11, 2016
Watch Your Language: Income
The Medicaid definition of “income” comes from federal law and reads as follows: Income is “[a]nything a person receives either in cash or in kind that can be used to meet the person’s basic needs of food, clothing, or shelter.” [Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
September 21, 2016
Watch Your Language: Attribution
Here’s how the Iowa Medicaid manual describes an attribution: “When one spouse enters a medical institution or applies for a home- and community-based services waiver, […] resources are attributed to the ‘community spouse’ to protect sufficient resources for the community spouse’s maintenance.” What does that mean in normal english? [Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
September 13, 2016
Watch Your Language: Unavailable Resource
The primary classification of assets under the Medicaid rules is whether an asset is countable or non-countable. But there’s a special class of resources that is both countable and non-countable – an exception to the general rule: the unavailable resource. [Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
September 6, 2016
Watch Your Language: Non-Countable Resource
Once you’ve disclosed all your resources to Medicaid, it’s up to the state to determine which ones are countable and which are non-countable. The term “non-countable resource” is defined quite narrowly. It only includes a very small list of specific assets that the federal government has said should be disregarded by the Department of Human Services. [Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
August 23, 2016
Watch Your Language: Countable Resource
If you’re asking Medicaid to help pay for nursing home care for a loved one, you’ll have to tell the state about everything they own. Everything. It’s the state’s job to determine whether they’re eligible based on the value of those assets that are considered countable resources. [Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
August 16, 2016
Watch Your Language: Institutionalized Spouse
Institutionalized. Sounds kind of scary, right? Fortunately, when we’re talking about Medicaid, saying someone is the institutionalized spouse really only means that they are the nursing home resident, the person who needs Medicaid coverage. [Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
August 2, 2016
Watch Your Language: Penalty Divisor
If you’ve transferred assets within the lookback period, the state is going to assess an eligibility penalty period based on the value of all the transfers you made within that 60-month window. The penalty period can be calculated by dividing the value of that gift by the penalty divisor. [Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
July 26, 2016
Watch Your Language: Lookback Period
If you’ve heard anything about Medicaid, you’ve probably heard about the lookback period. In Iowa, the lookback period is the period of time starting with the day you apply for Medicaid and extending back through time for sixty months. We break that definition down after the jump. [Read More]
Ethan Huizenga
July 19, 2016