What Is The Difference Between Medicare And Medicaid?
This edition of the Koldin Report E-Newsletter is part of a series on Frequently Asked Questions About Medicaid.
All prior newsletters are saved on our website. You can read them by clicking here.
In this newsletter we answer the following question:
What is the difference between Medicare and Medicaid?
Medicare is a health insurance plan that most people become eligible for when they turn 65 years old. Medicare provides coverage for physician care, hospitalization, and prescriptions. Medicare also provides coverage for rehabilitation and skilled nursing home care for a limited period of time.
Medicare will only pay for a very short stay in a nursing home for rehabilitation and therapy. Medicare does not pay for long term custodial nursing home care.
Medicaid is a health insurance program provided by the federal and state government that will provide for long term custodial care in a nursing home and may provide coverage for home health care.
However, there are strict financial eligibility requirements before you are able to receive Medicaid coverage.
There are also penalties imposed if you transfer your assets within 5 years from the date of the Medicaid application for nursing home care coverage.
Medicare does not have financial eligibility requirements. Medicaid requires you to spend a large portion of your life savings towards the cost of your care before you can qualify for coverage. Families who do not know their legal rights often lose their life savings towards the cost of long term care in a nursing home.
The loss of your life savings does not have to happen if you know your legal rights. If a family member is already facing a catastrophic illness, it is never too late to protect some or all of your life savings using special Medicaid rules. Assets can still be protected even while in a nursing home.
There are important financial protections available for the healthy spouse.
As a result of misinformation, families unnecessarily spend their life savings towards the cost of care before establishing Medicaid eligibility.
For more information about the Medicaid laws, please see our website by clicking here.
At the Koldin Law Center, P.C., located in East Syracuse, New York, we have over 50 years of experience helping individuals plan for immediate crisis and long term care. When the Koldin Law Center, P.C. handles a Medicaid case, we not only handle the entire application process, but we also review asset protection options with our clients. We review with our clients who are already in a Nursing Home options to protect some or all of their assets beyond merely establishing Medicaid eligibility. We do not charge a fee for the initial consultation. We welcome your children, family attorney, accountant, and/or financial planner to be present at the initial consultation.
There is something you can do.
Our Attorneys are available to speak to your organization
Our Attorneys speak to groups throughout New York State as a public service. If you would like to arrange for one of our Attorneys to speak to your group, please contact our office.
We appreciate your referrals
We have been told by many clients who are in a crisis that they wish they had known about our firm much sooner. We are proud of the many families we have helped in times of crisis.
We are also proud of the many families we helped avoid financial crisis by doing estate planning in advance.
We all share the responsibility for making our family and friends aware of the planning options available to them.
Your referral to the could make a major difference in the lives of your family and friends if they are someday faced with a long term illness.
Remember that the offers many services for clients of all ages. Our services range from basic estate planning such as a simple will to complex estate planning including asset preservation planning.
THERE IS NO FEE FOR THE INITIAL CONSULTATION
