One time windfall and Medicaid eligibility

amother

Sun, Jul 16 2023, 10:14 am

Let’s say a person who is low income and gets government benefits somehow gets a huge financial windfall

Think
Major commission
Major yerusha

So say they suddenly get $300,000, but they won’t get that again next month (or the month after etc.), so it’s really not a steady income.

What if the money was given to their children- like a yerusha to grandchildren (children living at home) and it is in the grandchildren’s names?

How does this affect the family’s eligibility?

The money will be reinvested and not accessible.

amother

Plum

Sun, Jul 16 2023, 10:23 am

amother OP wrote:

If it's in the children's name - is it accessible now, or is it being held for them when they reach adulthood?

Your savings and investments are part of your disclosures to them. Medicaid considers those as part of your eligibility. It makes sense though - if you have some money on hand to support your needs, you shouldn't be saving it and then asking for gov't support. You should be using it to support yourself. Can you imagine if society would do - lock their money away for savings, and then ask the gov't to provide for them in its place? Gov't support is not designed to be a crutch so that people can save money. It's a crutch for people who have no means to fully support themselves.

With that said, I understand your position. $300,000 is not much considering our lifestyles - and would be of great use later on. Maybe there's a way to transfer the funds in a way that won't affect your current status. Can you speak to a financial advisor to get some advice?

amother

Mimosa

Sun, Jul 16 2023, 10:29 am

If you’re getting a $300,000 yerusha please do it responsibly!! Otherwise it’ll all just go to the government
Find out about trusts and the best way to transfer it so that you actually get the money
Speak to a frum lawyer who specializes in these things

amother

Burntblack

Sun, Jul 16 2023, 10:52 am

So we got money a few years ago to put a down payment on our house. It was a nightmare. Legally there was no problem because we never had access to the money but we had a medicaid worker who did that regularly for all her clients. She kicked us off and we had a court case. They wanted us to reimburse them $15000 for the months that she decided we were not eligible. It was very stressful. We hired a lawyer at our cost and ended not having to pay the money back but we did have to pay insurance for a few months until we were able to get back on medicaid.
Many sleepless nights! Sad

It's very tricky. Best is if you don't put any money on your bank account. It's possible that if you open savings accounts on your children's name and put some money in each account it wouldn't be a problem.
Not sure where you're located but you should consult with programs agency, they know the rules.
(LRRC in lakewood for example)

amother

Honeysuckle

Sun, Jul 16 2023, 11:21 am

amother Daylily wrote:

Depends on state. This is called unearned income and every state has a different rule about it.
You would need to call your state's Medicaid info # or a local agency & ask about unearned income.

But the first question is whether it's income or not. A yerusha isn't income.

amother

Midnight

Sun, Jul 16 2023, 11:30 am

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

But the first question is whether it's income or not. A yerusha isn't income.

Many states have an asset limit too. So an inheritance will impact that. A quick Google search says it is a huge issue in many states and they recommend speaking to a financial planner.

amother

Gold

Sun, Jul 16 2023, 2:54 pm

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

Ok. For federal tax purposes, an inheritance is not subject to the income tax.

If Medicaid has a resource limit in your state then it might be disqualified under that.

Apples and oranges
We're not talking about income tax here.