The VA will only pay for or subsidize veterans who need nursing home care due to a service-connected disability or any vet with a combined service-connected disability rating of 70% or more and who need skilled nursing care. The VA only provides nursing home care for individuals in other categories IF beds and resources are available.

Limitations of VA Nursing Homes in Michigan

One of the biggest limitations of VA Nursing homes, even if you qualify in Michigan is their location.  In Michigan there are two VA Nursing Homes in the whole state.  There is is one in Marquette and the other is in the Grand Rapids area.  Not very helpful if your loved one is a Veteran in the Brighton, Livonia, Metro-Detroit area.

Furthermore, you can’t just decide you are going to a VA nursing home, even if you believe you meet the level of care and rating requirements. There is a process to be evaluated for VA nursing home care. You must first be enrolled for Veterans Health Benefits, which is another process in and of itself and can include an evaluation of income and assets.  Then, once enrolled with the Veterans Health Administration, you must then be evaluated by a primary care provider or a geriatric specialist for nursing home care.

Moreover, if you are a surviving spouse of a Veteran you may not qualify for a VA Nursing Home at all.

You can learn more about VA Care at their website.

VA Benefits for Nursing Home, Assisted Living and Home Care

Now the VA will not pay your entire nursing home, but there is a VA Benefit that will help pay for home care, assisted living or nursing home care called the Aid & Attendance Benefit.

This year the VA Aid & Attendance Benefit maxes out at $2,120 per month.  Now this will not cover the whole cost of nursing home care, which can run over $12,500 per month in Michigan, but it will help ease some of the burden, especially of assisted living or home care.

Medicaid and VA Benefits Together

Typically, if you are a veteran or surviving spouse of a veteran we, at The Elder Care Firm, will help families link their VA Benefits and Medicaid by initially qualifying the family for the VA Benefit when they need home care or assisted living.  However, once the loved one transitions to a nursing home, we will help them qualify for Medicaid by sheltering their resources.  The net effect is until the family needs nursing home care, we help bring in up to $2,120 per month, then once nursing home is needed, Medicaid picks up a majority of the nursing home cost.

Planning ahead for VA Benefits and Medicaid

The earlier a family starts planning for a Veteran or surviving spouse of a veteran, the more options are on the table as the loved one navigates the long-term care journey.  Often, as VA Accredited Elder Law Attorneys, we utilize special asset protection trusts to help qualify for the VA Benefit or Medicaid.

The post Will The VA (Veteran’s Administration) Pay My Nursing Home Care appeared first on Michigan Estate Planning.

To qualify for Medicaid in Michigan to receive funds to help pay for nursing home care, a single individual or widow can only have $2,000 worth of countable assets.

Does a land contract count towards that asset limit or is it considered an income stream for Medicaid in Michigan?

The answer is….it depends.  Just like many legal questions there are a number of factors in whether the land contract is an income stream or an asset.

A seller’s interest in a land contract is typically viewed as an asset according to the BEM (the manual case workers use to administer Medicaid in Michigan).  The value of the asset is what the land contract could be sold for in the owner’s local area on short notice.  The land contract is the present value unless 2 banks or real estate appraisers say it is non-assignable or that it has zero value.  If that’s the case the the land contract would be valued as an income stream.

What To Do with a Land Contract and Medicaid?

So what to do?  It depends on what your family’s goals.  I’d recommend engaging a Certified Elder Law Attorney to advise on legal strategies to plan for Medicaid.  For example, a half-loaf plan could be used to protect 50-60% of a single individuals assets from nursing home or Medicaid spend down.  With a married couple, we may be able to protect 100% of the assets, so that the all of the assets are available for the health, community spouse.  Give us a call at (888) 390-4360 and we can discuss all the potential options to plan for your family.

The post Does a Land Contract Count Towards the Medicaid Asset Limit in Michigan? appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.

To qualify for Medicaid in Michigan to receive funds to help pay for nursing home care, a single individual or widow can only have $2,000 worth of countable assets.

Does a land contract count towards that asset limit or is it considered an income stream for Medicaid in Michigan?

The answer is….it depends.  Just like many legal questions there are a number of factors in whether the land contract is an income stream or an asset.

A seller’s interest in a land contract is typically viewed as an asset according to the BEM (the manual case workers use to administer Medicaid in Michigan).  The value of the asset is what the land contract could be sold for in the owner’s local area on short notice.  The land contract is the present value unless 2 banks or real estate appraisers say it is non-assignable or that it has zero value.  If that’s the case the the land contract would be valued as an income stream.

What To Do with a Land Contract and Medicaid?

So what to do?  It depends on what your family’s goals.  I’d recommend engaging a Certified Elder Law Attorney to advise on legal strategies to plan for Medicaid.  For example, a half-loaf plan could be used to protect 50-60% of a single individuals assets from nursing home or Medicaid spend down.  With a married couple, we may be able to protect 100% of the assets, so that the all of the assets are available for the health, community spouse.  Give us a call at (888) 390-4360 and we can discuss all the potential options to plan for your family.

The post Does a Land Contract Count Towards the Medicaid Asset Limit in Michigan? appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.

Selling the Home with VA Benefits

VA Benefit, but are concerned about what to do with the home.

The typical scenario is that mom was living on her own.  She breaks her hip.  Goes into the hospital, is discharged to a nursing home for rehab, covered by Medicare.  Then from the nursing home the family scrambles to find where she should go, because she can’t go home.

The family decides on an assisted living for mom’s long-term care.  At this point, with mom paying $3,000 per month in long-term care costs, the family struggles to find ways to pay for long-term care.  They discover the little known VA Benefit that can help pay for long-term care for a surviving spouse.  This year that benefit would be $1,149 per month.

However, the VA Benefit has an asset test and the home is an exempt asset so it doesn’t count towards the asset test.  But if mom qualifies for the VA Benefit, without any planning, then she has less than $30,000 in her name.  As the assets dwindle covering the short fall they look to sell their home.

Wouldn’t Selling the Home Disqualify Mom from her VA Benefits

Wouldn’t selling the home disqualify mom from the VA Benefit?  Not if the family takes legal steps to protect the VA Benefit.  The family, prior to sale, would consult with a VA elder law attorney who would then create a Veterans Asset Protection Trust and deed the home to the trust.  Once the home is deeded to the trust, the home could be sold, and the proceeds of the sale would be available to help pay for mom’s long-term care in her assisted living.

Another Benefit of Placing the Home in a Veterans Asset Protection Trust

Not only would mom be able to maintain her VA Benefit as a surviving spouse of a veteran, she would also be able to protect the proceeds of the home from Medicaid or Nursing Home spend-down.  The assets in a Veterans Asset Protection Trust do not count towards the Medicaid asset limit of $2,000, assuming mom makes it long enough without needing Medicaid.

This means that mom, if she needs nursing home level care can qualify for Medicaid to have Medicaid pay her base level of care, while having a pot of resources in her trust to improve her quality of life and pay for additional services.

Next Steps to Protect the Home

If you have a loved one who needs long-term care, could qualify for the VA benefit, and want to sell the home–but are afraid to because of a loss of VA Benefits, then give us a call (888) 390-4360.  The Elder Care Firm is the only law firm in Livingston County with a  VA Accredited Certified Elder Law Attorney.

The post How to Sell a House and Protect Your VA Benefits appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.