Medicaid pays for all or a portion of the nursing home cost for those individuals that qualify for Medicaid. The average monthly cost for a nursing home stay in Louisiana is approximately $3,500. If a married couple is in a nursing home, the average monthly cost is about $7,000. If you fail to qualify for Medicaid, you will pay this cost out of your own personal savings. If you qualify for Medicaid, then all or a portion of this cost will be paid by Medicaid.

What is Medicaid Planning?

Medicaid planning is a response to the concern of older Louisiana residents regarding the high cost of long-term nursing home care. With the comprehensive coverage provided by Medicaid, many in Louisiana have come to view Medicaid planning as an attractive means of financing a long-term nursing home stay, but only if the individual can qualify for Medicaid benefits without first depleting all of his or her resources. Generally, the purpose behind Medicaid planning is to make the individual eligible for Medicaid benefits, while preserving as much of his or her resources for the benefit of the other family members.

Example. Mary owns a home worth $150,000 and bank accounts totaling $200,000. If Mary enters a nursing home, she will have to deplete all of her bank accounts down to less than $2,000 before she will qualify for Medicaid. In addition, when she applies for Medicaid (after depleting all of her accounts), she will be informed that Medicaid has a lien on her home so Medicaid can seize it after her death to reimburse Medicaid for the benefits provided to her during her lifetime. However, if Mary had engaged timely in proper Medicaid planning, she could have preserved her accounts and her home and taken advantage of Medicaid which would have paid for all or a large portion of her long-term care nursing home cost.

Medicaid vs. Medicare

Let's get one thing straight first. Medicaid is NOT Medicare. MedicAID differs significantly from MediCARE. Because of the similarity of the spelling most people confuse the two programs. Most of us are fairly familiar with the Medicare program. We either have used it to pay for hospital and doctor visits, or our parents have. Regardless, everyone has seen the deduction on their paycheck.


Medicare, briefly, is a type of public health insurance that pays for primary care including doctors visits and hospitalization. Every senior who has paid into the Medicare system during their working years is eligible for Medicare. It will, and this is one place where the confusion begins, even pay for nursing home care. The catch is, it will only pay for nursing home care under some very limited circumstances, and even then for no more the 100 days.

On the other hand many of us have never encountered the Medicaid program. Medicaid is a needs based program. Its eligibility requirements are based on the perceived need for assistance based upon an inquiry into the individual's financial and medical position. This is the starting point for determining eligibility for benefits which is broken down into two avenues of inquiry, a medical need and a financial need. The catch here: you must meet the eligibility requirements.

Getting Started

Getting started with your estate plan is easy. Just contact our office and tell the person that answers the phone that you’d like to set up your initial Mstate planning meeting. We’ll schedule a time for you (or you and your spouse if you are married) to come in and meet with Mr. Rabalais – at no charge to you. Since your children may be involved with certain aspects of your Medicaid plan, you may want to invite them to attend. Or perhaps your parents are unable to come into the office due to their health, you may want to come in to our office on your parents’ behalf.

Prior to your arrival, all that we ask is that you print out and complete our confidential Medicaid Planning Questionnaire. This allows us to get some basic information about you and your family. When you come into our office, Mr. Rabalais will find out your ultimate Medicaid planning objectives and then, after you answer a few questions, Mr. Rabalais will suggest the legal strategies necessary to preserve your assets for yourself and your loved ones.

Typical Medicaid Planning Services

Every set of circumstances is different and every Medicaid plan is customized to meet your specific objectives, but most Medicaid plans involve the following:

	Review of assets and income. We will determine your countable resources and your monthly income to determine whether you meet Medicaid’s resource and income limits.
	Transfers. Many Medicaid plans involve the transfer of ownership of your assets either to a trust for the benefit of you and others, or to other individuals. Tthe amount of your assets and the status of your health will significantly affect our recommendations to you regarding your potential qualification for Medicaid.
	Preparation of your last will and testament, durable power of attorney, health care power of attorney, and living will.
	Other legal services. There are numerous Medicaid planning tools that, if used properly, can enable you to preserve your assets for yourself and your loved ones. Some of these tools include our Medicaid Living Trust (as opposed to Revocable Living Trust), Personal Service Contracts, transfer of the family home, transferring from countable assets to exempt assets, and much more.
	Ongoing communication. Just setting up a Medicaid plan is not enough. It’s important that we monitor your plan as Medicaid laws change and your family circumstances change.