Community Medicaid Look-Back Period
Presently an applicant is allowed to transfer any amount of assets one month and become financially eligible for Community Medicaid the following month. However, according to NYS Department of Health the implementation of the rule passed October 2020, a 30 months look-back period, will be in effect sometime in 2025.
What does that mean? Once the rule goes into effect, future applicants will be forced to disclose 30 months of financial statements. If in the past 30 months (from date of application), the applicant transferred assets to someone other than their spouse, a disqualification period will be imposed before the appplicant gets approved. The disqualification period will be the same as nursing home applicants using the NYS nursing home regional rate chart. In NYC it will be $14,273. That means for every $14,273 transferred the applicant will be disqualified for 1 month. Example: A transfer of $142,730 will create a 10 month disqualification period.
There are various options to avoid some or all of the disqualification periods.
For further information and or updates regarding this issue, contact us at Elder Care Services, Inc., (718) 575-5700.