Senior Resources 2023 Northeast Directory

T

Spousal Impoverishment Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1988 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA'93) provides the legal means for anyone to shelter assets and qualify for financial assistance through an entitlement program. This act protects married individ uals from depleting their assets due to an extended nursing home stay. If the couple's combined assets are: $0 - $100,000 "community spouse" may keep .....$50,000+$2,000 $100,001 - $297,240 "community spouse" may keep .....HALF+$2,000 $297,240 + "community spouse" may keep ....$148,260 plus $2,000 for a total of $150,260 These figures are adjusted annually for infla tion. For more information, please visit the Wisconsin Medicaid webpage.

O vERvIEWOF ThE M EDICAID P ROGRAM 4. Household goods and personal effects : Generally no inquiry unless reason to suspect unusual value. 5. Pre-paid funeral arrange ments : Each fiscal group member may have one or more irrevocable burial trusts, of which the total face value may not exceed $4,500. Any principal amount over $4,500 is a countable asset. Although Wisconsin law allows $3,000 to be irrevocable, Wisconsin’s Medicaid state plan allows an additional $1,500 to be considered as though it were irrevocable by law for these burial trusts. This is why $4,500 is allowed.

his article focuses on the Medicaid program as it applies to elderly and dis abled individuals. There are three common names for one program. 1. Medical assistance 2. Medicaid 3. Title 19 Medicaid is a welfare program jointly funded between the Federal and State gov ernment. It is designed to assist in paying for skilled nursing facility expenses and many other medical expenses for individu als who have minimal assets and inade quate income to pay for these expenses. The individual is normally responsible to pay for all of his/her own long term care expenses: generally, if the cost of this care exceeds the individual's income and the individual is asset-qualified, Medicaid sup plements the individual's own payment. Within the Federal guidelines, each state is able to establish their own eligibility stan dards, determine the type, amount and duration of services, set the rate for pay ment of services, and administer their own program. This article will outline the eligi bility requirements for Wisconsin as of 2023 . A single adult qualifies if they meet the fol lowing criteria: The applicant can't retain more than $2,000 plus exempt assets 1. Home : Homestead property is exempt regardless of the value if the applicant intends to return home, or if a disabled child is living in it. 2. Car : One automobile per household is excluded regardless of the value if it is used for transportation of the eli gible individual or couple or a mem ber of the eligible individual's or cou ple's household. 3. Life Insurance : Life insurance is exempt if the face value of all policies is less than $1,500. If the face value exceeds $1,500, full cash value counts towards resource limit. Term insurance has no cash value and is excluded from countable assets.

Married couples can own exempt assets listed above plus: 1. One automo bile per household is excluded regardless of

the value if it is used for trans portation of the eligible individual or couple or a member of the eligible indi vidual's or couple's household.

2. IRA of the community spouse How much money may a couple "Shelter"? The

S E N I O R R E S O U R C E S | 13

For information on Senior Services in Wisconsin, visit our website www.seniorresourcesonline.com

2023