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Does The Medicaid Five Year Look Back Period Apply To Home Care And Assisted Living Or Just Nursing Home Care?

Under current law, the Medicaid five year look back period only applies to nursing home care, not to home care or assisted living. Although there is no transfer penalty for home care or assisted living Medicaid eligibility, the transfer penalty does apply if you subsequently enter a Nursing Home. The Medicaid Agency is entitled to look at all your financial transactions for the 5 years immediately preceding your Medicaid application for Nursing Home coverage. The Medicaid Agency can review your bank statements and question each of your deposits and withdrawals for the past 5 years. Therefore, if you have transferred assets to qualify for Medicaid Home Care or assisted living coverage and enter a Nursing Home within 5 years from the date of the transfer, those transferred funds may need to be returned to you before you apply for Medicaid Nursing Home coverage.

Still Have More Questions?

Contact our experienced Upstate New York elder law attorneys to schedule a free initial consultation.


Our firm focuses our practice on estate planning and Medicaid planning. We are also very experienced in handling elder law, irrevocable trust , revocable trust, basic estate planning(Will, Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy), Medicaid law , and children with disabilities / supplemental (special) needs trust matters.

The Koldin Law Center handles the entire Medicaid application process for the client with the goal of preserving and protecting some or all of the family life savings from the costs of Nursing Home care.

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Practice Areas

Basic Estate Planning

Trust Planning

Medicaid Planning And MedicaidApplications

Planning For Individuals With Disabilities

Probate And EstateAdministration