We’re an elder law firm that helps folks with traditional planning, as well as crisis planning. And crisis planning does include Medicaid planning, helping to cover the cause of long-term care. And Medicaid is important because the average cost of long-term care here in Ohio is 10 to 12 to 14,000 a month, and we’re not all billed for that, so Medicaid has a purpose and it is necessary. You can qualify for Medicaid without having to spend everything down, but Medicaid does want you to spend as much as necessary before they will chip in.
Now something that people are confused by is inheritance. If you receive an inheritance prior to qualifying for Medicaid, yes, it is considered a resource. It’s owned by you. Some folks keep that separate in their mind or their portfolio, want to keep it in the family for different purposes, but we have to be aware of it and we have to plan for it because Medicaid would want you to liquidate it or spend it, as well. If you would have received the inheritance after you’re on Medicaid, we have to report it within a number of days to the state, the county, and then they do disqualify you from Medicaid depending on the value. They would want you to spend that down. Your advisors that practice in this area know how to protect at least a portion of that. We can usually protect at least half of what’s exposed. So yes, unfortunately, inheritance is sentimental to us, but not to the state of Ohio.