Medi-Cal Asset Protection Planning

Long Term Care

Only a small percentage of seniors can afford “private-pay-care”. Due to the rising cost of long-term care, very often a substantial part of the family savings are depleted, leaving the elderly penniless.  Some seniors, in order to deal with that, acquire and invest in long term care private insurance policies so that they can collect monthly allowance for their care, as needed. However, with all these precautions, some seniors, due to the rising age of longevity, still run the risk of depleting all their financial resources.

As an alternative, many elderly parents must resort to governmental assistance programs such as “State Welfare Health Care” assistance, which in California is called “Medi-Cal”. “Medi-Cal” is a joint federal and state program to assist California residents who are considered “low-income”, including anyone who is disabled, blind, 65 years old or older.

What is the Medi-Cal Eligibility Rules?

The Medi-Cal eligibility rules are very complex and cannot be determined by simply looking at the bank accounts and the real estate owned. Per the rules, some assets are considered “exempt resources”, which do not get counted towards “eligibility”, whereas, some other assets are considered “Countable Resources” which make an individual applicant to be found “ineligible”.

Since the language used to determine “Medi-Cal eligibility” is not easily understood, special skills are required to interpret the applicable requirements, to qualify for the benefits. We at Manesh & Mizrahi, APLC have been successful in petitioning courts in order to qualify our clients for Medi-Cal, who had been otherwise found ineligible.In some situations, we have undertaken alternative options instead of petitioning the court, so as to qualify our clients to become eligible for Medi-Cal.

So, if you or your elderly loved ones, subscribe to the false notion that because you own assets, you are “not eligible”, after an in-depth review and discussion of the “rules” with our office, you may learn otherwise.  

If I have Medi-Cal and own a home, will the State take my home away after my death?

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will seek reimbursement of all medical expenses after the death of Medi-Cal beneficiaries over the age of 55. This is generally the person who was on Medi-Cal and used medical services charged to the State. Therefore, if you own your home or any other assets at the time of your death, all of your medical expenses paid by the State of California during your life time must be reimbursed by your beneficiary(ies), either from their own pocket or from the proceeds of the sale of your home and other assets.

Can Medi-Cal Recovery be prevented while you are alive?

We at Manesh & Mizrahi, APLC, with many years of experience in this area, will make sure that the Medi-Cal Recovery rule will not place your home at risk at the time of your death. This is a special legal service that is geared to safeguard your home upon your death so that your heirs/beneficiaries would not be indebted to the State of California.