Medicaid Planning & Information Center
Medicaid Planning & Information Center (MPIC) qualifies individuals in need of nursing home care for Institutional Care Program (ICP) Medicaid benefits. Florida’s ICP Medicaid covers all of the costs of nursing facility care, including room, board and medical care.
Most people are not aware that Florida’s current laws allow just about anyone to qualify for ICP Medicaid. Florida does NOT require the person in the nursing facility or their family to deplete their assets and resources. With the proper planning, essentially anyone in a skilled nursing facility in Florida can meet the eligibility requirements. Our attorneys and staff are able to evaluate the assets, restructure as required, file the necessary applications and provide the necessary legal documents, thus alleviating the stress involved during this confusing and difficult process.
Take advantage of our expertise and the complimentary consultation.
Using a Medicaid Planning Representative from MPIC is Beneficial & Necessary to:
- Complete Application Correctly
- Reduce the Time Involved
- Protect the Healthy Spouse
- Preserve Protected Assets
- Properly Structure Assets
- Divert Income to Healthy Spouse
- Preserve Homestead Protection
- Avoid Unnecessary Out-of-Pocket Expenses
- Interface with Department of Children & Families (DCF)
- Provide Necessary Legal Documents
- Offer Post-Planning Support
Disability Planning
Your Estate Planning Should Thoroughly Address Medicaid and Disability Planning. When a person becomes disabled, he or she is often unable to make personal and/or financial decisions. If you cannot make these decisions, someone must have the legal authority to do so for you. Otherwise, your family must apply to the court for appointment of a guardian for either your person or your property, or both. At a minimum, you need broad powers of attorney that will allow agents to handle all of your property if you become disabled, as well as the appointment of a decision-maker for health care decisions. Alternatively, a fully funded revocable trust can ensure that you and your property will be cared for as you desire, pursuant to the highest duty under the law ‘ that of a trustee.
Special Needs Trusts
Medicaid Planning may also involve an Estate Plan that includes a Special Needs Trust. A Special Needs Trust is a trust that can supplement the needs of a special needs beneficiary while allowing the beneficiary to maintain his or her governmental benefits, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security and Medicaid. With medical advancements, persons with disabilities are living longer and public benefits are often necessary, yet there is no guarantee that public benefits will provide adequate resources over the disabled person’s lifetime, or that existing public agencies will continue to provide acceptable services and advocacy over a disabled person’s lifetime.
If the special needs trust is established by you or someone other than the disabled person and the disabled person does not have the legal right to demand trust assets, the trust is not considered a ‘countable resource’ for purposes of government benefits. Therefore, the special needs trust beneficiary can continue to receive benefits even though he or she is a trust beneficiary. The trust will give the trustee the discretion to make distributions to the beneficiary to the extent possible without reducing benefits, and trust assets are available if the beneficiary no longer qualifies for governmental assistance or that assistance is no longer available.