As your parents age, you may realize they need assistance with daily activities like getting out of bed and dressing themselves. Furthermore, their underlying medical conditions may require around-the-clock care. This is when you might want to start looking for a suitable long-term care facility to enroll them in. As you conduct your research, you should also help them apply for Medicaid to help ensure your family can afford to pay for the chosen facility’s services.
Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that can potentially fund your parents’ stay at a long-term care facility. However, you should know that the program has strict eligibility criteria, and the application process can be complex. To help ensure your parents qualify for this lifeline, you should familiarize yourself with what might compromise their applications. Understanding these potential pitfalls can help you increase their odds of eligibility.
Incomplete or inaccurate documentation
The most common culprit for Medicaid denial is submitting an inaccurate or incomplete application form. Since there are so many people applying for Medicaid funding, even minor errors during application can render your parents illegible.
When preparing the application forms, you want to make sure that you provide comprehensive financial information by including:
- Pertinent bank statements
- Proof of income
- Details of assets
To help guarantee that you don’t miss or include erroneous information, you might want to seek appropriate legal guidance when compiling the application forms. Meticulously completed applications can help ensure your parents don’t have to deal with delays in processing or outright denials. A reliable legal team can help ensure you have all necessary documents well in advance and double-check them for accuracy.
Failure to meet asset limits
The Medicaid program has strict asset cut-offs that applicants should not exceed to qualify. Suppose your parents’ assets exceed this limit; they may be perceived as too well off to require Medicaid funding. You can work with a trusted legal advisor to make use of proper estate planning tools to hold your parents’ assets. Thus, when providing details of assets, they will not appear to exceed the set threshold.
Securing Medicaid funding can give you greater peace of mind, knowing that your parents will be well taken care of in their golden years. To increase the odds of eligibility, you can consider seeking appropriate legal guidance when completing your parents’ application forms.