7351 Center Street, Mentor, OH, USA
Elder Law
Guardianship/Nursing Home
Mentor Elder Law Lawyers
At Hanahan & Hinton, LLC, we assist in all forms of elder law. Elder Law specializes in the issues you, a loved one or a disabled family member may face as we age. These matters may include health care, long term care planning, estate planning, guardianship, conservatorship, retirement, Social Security or Medicare/Medicaid questions. We navigate you through a complicated process with dedication and attention to detail.
Obtain Guardianship Of A Loved One
When a loved one or a minor child is unable to make important decisions, we can help you obtain guardianship. A designated guardian may be appointed through the probate court to manage personal affairs and health care, or to manage the finances of the estate, or as guardian of both the person and the estate. We can assist you in obtaining guardianship of a friend or family member through the probate court. This can be a tedious process. We have the experience to efficiently file all required paperwork and assist you through the various hearings and court requirements.
If You Have Questions About The Care Your Loved One Is Receiving In A Nursing Facility Or At Home
You place one of the people you love the most under the care of others. You trust them to provide the most compassionate, comforting attention possible. You rely on them to do the absolute best for your family member or friend.
If you have concerns about the care and treatment your loved one is receiving at a skilled nursing facility, nursing home or assisted living center, we can help you get the answers you need. And they deserve the best care possible, to maintain their dignity and continued well-being.
We've worked with people just like you, and understand how helpless you can feel when things just don't seem right. We will meet with you at our office, your home, or at the nursing home or hospital, so you can be confident in the choices you make for the ones you love.
MEDICAID
Medicaid And Nursing Home Care
Paying for a nursing home is simply unaffordable for most people. Why? Paying out of pocket can run hundreds of thousands of dollars. Private health insurance doesn’t cover extended nursing home care, and few people buy long term care insurance. Even Medicare coverage ends after a short term, and requires hospitalization first. Medicaid offers the only option for many people.
Hanahan & Hinton, LLC can help you understand and navigate the Medicaid maze.
Hanahan & Hinton LLC understands Medicaid, Estate Planning and Elder Law. We can help you develop ‘spend down’ eligibility strategies, which may include estate planning tactics, creating qualifying income trusts, debt payments, annuities, real estate transfers or caretaker arrangements. Your estate plan is tailored precisely to your needs, income and assets, to allow you and your heirs to maintain the most of your estate.
Other than Medicaid, you only have three options to pay for extended nursing care:
Private Pay
According to the 2015 Genworth Financial Cost of Care survey, the average cost of skilled nursing care in Ohio is $6,388 per month or $213 per day.
Most people have Social Security Income and possibly a pension or retirement investments to off-set a portion of the monthly skilled nursing care cost.
Traditional health insurance plans will not cover most costs of long term care.
Long Term Care Insurance
Although Long Term Care Insurance will cover all or a portion of the cost of a nursing facility, it may also provide coverage for other services, such as activities of daily home living, home health care, respite care, hospice care, adult day care and assisted living facility care.
Monthly premiums depend on many factors such as life expectancy, health, habits, family history and gender. (Women live longer. Result: women have a greater chance of being alone and needing long-term care).
Medicare
Medicare may pay for a short stay in a skilled nursing facility but only after a “qualifying hospital stay”. A qualifying hospital stay requires skilled nursing services and being an admitted, in-patient for at least 3 days, not counting the day of discharge. An “observation” stay is not considered being admitted and does not count for Medicare coverage.
· After paying 100% for the first 20 days Medicare only pays a small part of the skilled nursing bill for another 80 days.
· Medicare pays nothing for skilled nursing care after the first 100 days.
Medical Provides Options to Reach Your Goals in Long Term Home and Nursing Facility Care
To be qualify for the government program known as Medicaid to pay for your nursing home care you must:
· Meet the eligibility requirements.
· Have limited “countable resources” and income.
ELIGIBILITY
You are eligible for Medicaid if:
You meet the “citizenship” requirements.
You must be physically present in the county and state where the application is filed
You meet the medical criteria:
-Aged: 65 years or older
-Blind
-Disabled
-Requisite Level of Care Need
The skilled nursing facility has a contract with Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services
Medicaid will pay for the nursing home if:
An individual has countable resources of $1,500 or less
Couples who are both institutionalized having countable resources of $2,250 or less
COUNTABLE RESOURCES
Countable Resources are cash, personal property and real property which an applicant or the applicant’s spouse has an ownership interest. Basically, everything of value is a countable resource but for certain specific exemptions.
Countable resources include:
Retirement accounts
Revocable trusts
Bank accounts
Promissory notes
Certificates of Deposit
Equity in primary residence in excess of $500,000
EXEMPT ASSETS
A non-exhaustive list of exempt resources are:
The home that is used as a principal place of residence by the applicant or spouse
Household goods and personal effects
One automobile per couple
Term life insurance
One small whole life type policy with a face value with less than $1,500
One burial space for the applicant, applicant’s spouse, and members of applicant’s immediate family
Prepaid irrevocable funeral contacts for the applicant, applicants immediate family members, including spouse, parents, children and their spouses