There seems to be a lot of misinformation in the market about Medicaid and how it works if you want to be in a nursing home or other such facility. And generally, the misunderstandings come from people not fully understanding Medicaid and how the government determines asset values.
Some married couples have agreements to keep their assets separate from each other. This can be beneficial for many reasons, especially if they are both on a second marriage and have independent sources of income. This can sometimes complicate things if one of the spouses might need to go into a nursing home and have Medicaid pay for their care.
For example, one strategy that some people might use is to “spend down” the assets of one member of the couple who needs some long-term care and could use the benefits of long-term care. This leaves the other spouse with a larger asset base for other purposes since their assets have been split. If they are considered separate then the government can’t claim they have a right to these other assets since they are separated.
For Medicaid purposes, this doesn’t work. Medicaid will ignore the spousal agreement and will consider the assets of each spouse, when determining eligibility as My San Antonio explains in "Protecting separate assets from Medicaid."
However, if a couple’s intent is to have one of them participate in the benefits of Medicaid, there are other ways they can potentially make this work for them. For example, they could actually get divorced and separate their assets. This way the assets of one spouse wouldn’t be counted in the assets of the other ex-spouse and they could meet the minimums for Medicaid. While most couples might be reluctant to divorce just to get coverage for a nursing home stay, it is a way to get some additional aid without spending all your money for care.
If you think that you might qualify for Medicaid you should see your attorney right away to get a better handle on the requirements. It is also a good idea to talk to your attorney about how you can potentially pay for your nursing home stay at some point that wouldn’t adversely affect your financial situation.