“Medicaid Annuities Help Protect Savings: A tactic to prevent unexpected nursing home care from evaporating the family nest egg,” by Eleanor Laise, Kiplinger Personal Finance
“Picture this: Your spouse has made a permanent move to a nursing home. You don’t have long-term-care insurance, Medicare won’t cover the cost, and you have too much money to qualify for Medicaid—but not nearly enough to afford the nursing-home bills. The monthly tab—easily $5,000 to $8,000 for a semi-private room—is rapidly depleting your nest egg. Now what? This is where a Medicaid-compliant annuity might rescue your retirement. You buy an immediate annuity—owned by and payable to you—that meets a number of special requirements, transforming cash that would otherwise prevent your ill spouse from qualifying for Medicaid into an income stream that helps you preserve your quality of life. Medicaid starts covering the nursing-home stay, and your monthly bills become manageable.”
LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):
Shame on Kiplinger for promoting this execrable gimmick to shift long-term care costs onto taxpayers to the detriment of the needy, Medicaid’s rightful beneficiaries.
#medicaid
