Medicaid Eligibility & Planning with Pooled Trusts Update for 2024
In order to be eligible for Medicaid, seniors (age 65 and over), and those who are blind or disabled, must meet certain income and resource guidelines. The Office of Health Insurance Programs recently issued an update on Medicaid eligibility criteria pertaining to income and resource levels for 2024. Medicaid permits a monthly income allowance of $1,732 per individual or $2,351 for a married couple. The permitted resource level for a single person in this category is $30,120 and $40,880 for a married couple[1]. Aside from the permitted income and resource allowance, seniors or those who are blind or disabled are entitled to a home if the equity does not exceed $1,071,000.
The techniques for planning to become eligible for Medicaid and preserve your assets remain unchanged. In order to preserve resources for your family instead of spending them on medical expenses until you qualify for Medicaid, the use of Medicaid Trusts and asset transfers continue to be pervasive. It is likewise common practice for Medicaid recipients and those anticipating a future need for Medicaid to preserve their homes from Medicaid recovery by deeding their homes to a trust, or in some instances to an individual.
Similarly, preserving excess income for your own expenses instead of “spending-down” to Medicaid through the implementation of “Pooled Trusts” continues to help many seniors and those who are disabled protect their livelihoods.
How does a Medicaid approved “Pooled Trust” work in regards to the applicant’s monthly surplus or excess income? Each month the Medicaid applicant/recipient would transfer their excess or surplus monthly income to a Medicaid approved Pooled Trust.
An example of an applicant’s excess income is as follows:
Suppose the applicant’s income is $2,000 per month from social security and another $800 from a pension. The total of both pension and social security is $2,800 per month. Deducting the $1,732 Medicaid allows, the applicant remains with a $1,068 surplus or excess monthly income.
In addition to the excess income of $1,068 that this applicant will send to the Pooled Trust, they would also send the bills they wish the pooled-income trust to pay, such as, rent, maintenance, telephone, credit card, mortgage, cable, and electricity, etc. By joining a Medicaid approved Pooled Trust, applicants/recipients can now use most of their monthly surplus or excess monthly income to pay for their monthly expenses. Utilizing a Medicaid approved Pooled Trust allows the Medicaid recipient the ability to stay longer in the Community and live in the surroundings they have come accustomed to and feel most comfortable at.
Whether you live in the five boroughs of NYC, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, or Staten Island, or Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, and Dutchess Counties, and wish to protect your monthly surplus income, you can now apply to a Medicaid approved Pooled Trust. Call us today at 347-699-5529 for a free telephone consultation or visit us online at www.YadgarovaLaw.com
[1] A qualified retirement account such as an IRA or 410K does not figure into these resource thresholds as long as the account is in monthly payout status.