States differ in how they treat income for Medicaid purposes. In general, a Medicaid recipient who is in a nursing home must turn over all of his or her income, except for a small monthly allowance, in order to cover the cost of care. If the person needs home care or lives in a continuing care retirement community, the state may consider any income over a certain limit to be excess or surplus and require that it go toward the cost of care. In those instances, a pooled trust can be a way to protect some of that income.
You may not have heard of the option of a pooled trust before and it is important to understand that it takes quite a bit of paperwork to set up. With a pooled trust, the older person arranges for his or her excess income to be paid to a charitable organization. The person no longer has control over the money but can submit bills to the charity for payment. Someone who is still living at home might use it for food and utilities, for example. This allows the person to defray everyday living costs that might exceed Medicaid’s relatively low limits. Note that only about a limited number of states (such as California) permit such trusts.
If your family or loved one is interested in creating a pooled trust, contact us today at Senior Helpers for more information.
Senior Helpers – Sacramento/Placer provides compassionate caregivers to help our local seniors with day-to-day tasks such as housekeeping, meal prep/planning, and transportation as well as providing assistance with bathing, dressing, medication reminders and more. Our mission is to improve the life of seniors and help relieve the burden on their families. If your loved one lives in Sacramento or the surrounding areas (Roseville/Rocklin, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove) and you would like more information, please call us at 916-671-5777 or click the Contact Us link at the top of this page.