If you are single and concerned about paying for home care or nursing home care now or in the future, you may need to act now if you want to protect your assets, as there is a big change coming to the MassHealth regulations that will affect you.
MassHealth (also called Medicaid) helps pay for home care and nursing home care for seniors who meet certain financial requirements. For a single person to qualify for MassHealth, your assets have to be below $2,000 not including your home. Right now, I can help single people who are over the asset limit, protect their assets by establishing a Pooled Disability Trust. Beginning June 1, 2023, the MassHealth regulations will no longer allow an applicant to establish a Pooled Trust and qualify for MassHealth benefits.
This trust helps to ensure that you have a good quality of life, by allowing you to set aside money for things/services that you will need once you go on MassHealth. For example, the trust funds may be used for companion services, transportation, haircuts, cable, clothing, personal belongings and shopping services and other expenditures not covered by MassHealth. Please note, however, that this trust must include a “payback” provision, which directs that MassHealth be reimbursed if any funds remain in the trust at the end of your life.
The Pooled Trust may be something that you should establish now if you are single and your assets (excluding your home) are under $250,000. Once this option goes away, the remaining options for protecting assets for single people in need of nursing home care will be extremely limited. We can help you plan to protect your assets from the high cost of home care and nursing home care. If you are single, it is important that you act now, as this option will be going away.
Please take the first step and contact us now to schedule a free consultation. We are here to help guide you and protect your assets. You may contact us by calling our office at 617-489-5900 or schedule a brief free consultation by clicking on this link: https://seniorsolutions.as.me/FreeConsult
Senior Solutions, Attorneys at Law, is an Estate Planning and Elder Law firm, serving the Greater Boston, Massachusetts area, since 2001. We are ready to help you with Medicaid Planning, Estate Planning, Probate, Guardianship & Conservatorships, Special Needs Trusts, and Fiduciary Services.