Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and Healthcare Planning for the Elderly

Alison Barnes (Professor of Law, Marquette University Law School) has recently published her article entitled Long Term Care in the Political Balance, 9 Marq. Elder’s Advisor 1 (2007).

Here is an excerpt from her article:

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 continued the long history of squeezing off Medicaid eligibility for aged people with disabilities who are not destitute.*** The Medicaid eligibility rules seek to utilize savings to pay for nursing facility care and recover expenditures from the value of assets generally exempt during the Medicaid recipient’s lifetime, primarily the home.***

As one student*** inquired***: Do you mean that if I set aside assets to cover five years of nursing facility care (at $5,000 per month on average nationwide, or $300,000) then the government will pay for my nursing home care? That generally is correct[.]***

For the great majority, however, that set-aside is impossible. The question becomes: How much savings is “too much” to reserve from payment for nursing home care, and does society wish to scrutinize why the elderly owner seeks to set it aside from his or her support? ***