64
64 Housing
ousing
and Attendance, housebound, or pension, total assets excluding the home must generally be less than $80,000. The asset limit may be less if the VA determines based on your age and medical condition that your assets will likely not be depleted before your death. Current VA rules do not penalize veterans who have transferred assets to come below the asset limits. “Aid and Attendance” is not available to spouses of living veterans in need of long-term care, but a veteran who is over 65 may qualify for a VA pension amount at a lower monthly amount if his or her spouse has enough medical and care costs. The VA determines the benefi t by fi rst subtracting all medical and long-term care expenses from the total income of the veteran and his or her spouse to determine countable income. If the veteran or widow needs nursing home care or aid and attendance at home or in assisted living, the countable income is then subtracted from the current maximum monthly aid and attendance benefi t rates for a single veteran, married veteran or a veteran’s widow or widower. If the veteran does not himself or herself need aid and attendance care, the countable income is subtracted from the current maximum monthly pension benefi ts rate for a single veteran, married veteran, or veteran’s widow. Benefi ts will be higher if the veteran has more than one dependent. If you qualify for nursing home Medicaid and are not married and have no dependents, the benefi t check will be reduced to $90 per month. If you believe you may be eligible for VA
benefi ts, contact the local offi ce of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs (see page 33).
BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE CHANGES IN ELIGIBILITY RULES FOR VA BENEFITS: On January 23, 2015, the VA published proposed regulations that would drastically restrict eligibility for these benefi ts. Among the many proposed changes are the following: The asset limit would be set at the maximum resources limit for nursing home Medicaid for married persons, but the countable income of the couple would be added to assets to determine countable assets; the home would continue to be excluded for all veterans even if no one lives in the home, but the homestead would for the fi rst time be limited to two acres; and also for the fi rst time, a three-year look back period
Senior Resource Directory 2017-2018
would be used to determine what the veteran had given away, which could result in disqualifi cation for up to ten years depending on the amount of the uncompensated transfer.
Medicaid If your retirement income plus any VA
benefi ts, health insurance, and long-term care insurance falls short of paying for your nursing home and other expenses, you should determine whether you qualify for Medicaid.
In Alabama, an unmarried person is allowed
one vehicle, a general exclusion of $2,000, a burial exclusion of $5,000, and prepaid space items such as casket, vault, plot, and the opening and closing of the grave. Your home may be excluded if a sibling is a joint owner and lives in your home, your child lives in your home who is under age 19, is disabled, or has provided care for you for the past two years that prevented you from being admitted to a nursing home. If you can exclude your home under one of these circumstances, you may transfer ownership of your home to that child or sibling without a Medicaid penalty or waiting period. This should be done prior to applying for Medicaid and giving a property lien to Medicaid. If you are married or separated, you receive all the exclusions listed above. In addition, your spouse receives another $5,000 burial exclusion and the space items exclusion. Some assets may also be kept by your spouse. If your spouse resides in the home, the home and adjoining property (without limitation) are excluded. Further exclusion of assets vary based on what is owned when you are admitted to a nursing home or the date of an earlier hospital admission. Your spouse’s additional exclusion is one-half your combined, non-excluded assets, but never less than $25,000 nor more than $119,220 (2017 limits). This maximum amount increases each January.
Note that, regardless of your marital status,
a life estate in real estate is given no value. If you have the additional right to cut timber or take minerals, however, the value must be counted. IRA’s and the cash surrender value of life insurance also count.
You should be aware of several myths about Medicaid. It is NOT true that only assets in your
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