As a person who is going to be qualified for Medicare later in your life, you may wonder why Medi-Cal would be relevant to you.
Medi-Cal is a health insurance program for people with virtually no financial resources, right? If you expect to retire with savings and income, you may assume that you would never need to concern yourself with Medi-Cal.
In fact, Medi-Cal is quite relevant to a very significant percentage of senior citizens. While it is true that you qualify for Medicare at the age of 65 if you earn at least 40 retirement credits when you are working and paying taxes, Medicare won’t pay for long-term care. This is custodial care, the type of care that you would receive in a nursing home or assisted living community. Certain types of in-home care would be looked upon as custodial care as well.
Medi-Cal will assist with long-term care expenses.
Everyone should be concerned about future long-term care expenses because most people will need living assistance eventually. Genworth Financial published a study recently. According to the study, the median cost for a private room in a nursing home in the state of California in 2013 was $97,820. The median annual cost for a semi private room was $83,950.
Multiple years in a nursing home could produce quite a sizable bill.
People who were never poor throughout their lives can and do qualify for Medi-Cal during their twilight years. One way that you could become eligible would be to spend all of your savings paying for long-term care out-of-pocket. You would then be financially needy, and you could qualify.
Another option would be to plan ahead in advance. It is possible to divest yourself of assets before you apply. You could give the assets to your loved ones, or otherwise use them as you see fit.
However, you do have to plan ahead well in advance to position your assets optimally at the ideal time.
Medi-Cal Planning
As you might imagine, Medi-Cal rules and regulations are quite complex, and they are always changing. Medi-Cal planning can be a complicated endeavor.
The best way to proceed would be to discuss everything in detail with a licensed elder care attorney. Your attorney will ask certain questions to gain an understanding of your financial position. He or she will also become apprised of your family dynamic and your estate planning goals.
You will invariably have questions. Your lawyer will provide you with answers, and ultimately work with you to devise a plan that leads to the fruition of your goals.
It is important to plan ahead for the eventualities of aging. If you would like to get started, contact our firm to schedule a free consultation.
