Medicaid is both a federal and state level program through which health care assistance is offered it’s to members. Each state administers their program differently than the next.
Your Home in Florida: A
Florida residents can own a personal residence (home) and still qualify for Medicaid.
Medicare Covers Long-Term Nursing Care: The Florida Medicare program covers skilled nursing care, but only for a limited period of time following a three-day hospital stay. Medicare is only meant to help a person with activities of daily living, such as bathing, eating, and using the bathroom, and can’t be used to cover long-term health care expenses.
Transfers Made Within five years of Applying Will Make You Ineligible: Medicaid will consider any uncompensated or below-market transfer (“transfers”) when the office reviews an application. Only certain transfers will be considered when determining whether a penalty period will apply. Medicaid benefits are not available during a penalty period.
You Must Spend of All of Your Assets to Qualify: Florida does place a cap on the amount of gross income and assets a person can own and qualify for Medicaid. A person with too many assets or income is ineligible to receive Medicaid benefits. A single person applying for Medicaid benefits may only have $2,000 of countable assets. The other spouse may possess up to $120,900 of countable assets. There are also many exempt assets or noncountable assets that a person or couple may own, including a home.
Florida’s Medicaid Rules are the Same as the Rules in Other States: Each state participates in Medicaid funding, it is a federal program, and has its rules on how these funds are administered. A person that lives in another state may not have to meet Florida’s requirements for Medicaid. Further, the rules can change on an annual basis.
