QUESTION
How do you calculate the "look back" period to determine penalty for Medicare?
Asked on Oct 25th, 2012 on Medicare and Medicaid - Missouri
More details to this question:
My mother went in a nursing home in 2005 and remarried in 2006. She added her new husband's name to her house deed in 2008. She is now planning to divorce her current husband and wants him to sign the house back over to her. Because she is still in a nursing home, will she be penalized for the previous five years even though her current husband was living in the house during that time? Or will she be responsible for reporting the house as an asset beginning with the date of the divorce?
1 ANSWER
nathan forck
Is she eligible for Medicaid now? You also said that she "added" her husband's name to her deed in 2008. Adding her husband's name to the deed would not constitute a "transfer" as long as her name was on the deed as well and has remained on the deed to date. If this is incorrect, please provide some clarification. Frankly, there are a lot of different ways that this could go, but I would need at least a few more facts before I was able to render a proper analysis. The good news is that even if it was a transfer it is possible for that transfer to be cured and not affect her eligibility for Medicaid (assuming she is currently receiving Medicaid benefits).
Answered on Oct 28th, 2012 at 2:20 PM