Medicaid Laws

The cost of nursing home care in Upstate New York is now averaging more than $8,000 per month. The cost of home health care can be even higher depending on the number of hours and the level of care that a person needs at home.

The loss of life savings and the family residence can have a devastating financial and emotional impact on the entire family. The money saved from a lifetime of hard work may be spent in a matter of months when a family member is faced with long-term nursing home care or home health care.

Medicare will not pay for ongoing long-term care in a nursing home. The only government program that will pay for long-term health care is a program called Medicaid.

Eligibility for Medicaid must be established before coverage will be provided. Without proper legal advice, Medicaid requires that you privately pay for your own health care until your life savings is depleted.

With knowledgeable legal advice, it is possible to preserve all or a part of your life savings, the family residence, and other assets, and still qualify for Medicaid even if you are in a nursing home.

This web site is designed to provide a general overview of the Medicaid program. The goal here is to provide the reader with a general understanding of our current health care system. This web site is not designed to be a "do it yourself" manual for handling a Medicaid application.

The Medicaid Laws are very complex and are constantly changing. It is very possible that some of the general rules which are described here today may not be applicable tomorrow due to a change in the law.

Also, the Medicaid laws are constantly being interpreted by the court system and the meaning of the laws can change over time.