Hiding Assets from Medicaid? Just Don’t Do It.
Hiding assets from Medicaid may be tempting. After all, most people cannot afford between $8,000 and $10,000 a month out of their own pocket to pay for nursing home care.
But trust estate planning attorney Bill Henry when he says you do not want to even try hiding assets from Medicaid to get help paying for long-term care. Watch the video or keep scrolling to find out why…
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Don’t attempt hiding assets from Medicaid. Instead, set up a case assessment when you call 303-688-0944, or schedule the meeting online when you click here.
If you are trying to hide your assets from the nursing home, if you’re trying to hide your money from Medicaid, if you’re trying to not disclose your assets to Medicaid, this video is for you. Hi, my name’s Bill Henry, and I am an elder law attorney with Robinson and Henry.
Hiding Assets from Medicaid
I’d like to talk to you about why that is the absolute worst idea and I’m hoping that you won’t do it.
It’s a Crime!
Here’s why. Colorado has something called the Colorado Medicaid False Claims Act, and under that law, if you attempt to not disclose something to Medicaid, or alternatively destroy records, you take some other covert action where you’re trying to hide your assets from Medicaid in order to get services, that’s a crime.
The Consequences for Hiding Assets from Medicaid
Like all crimes, this crime could be pretty serious, and you can end up in jail. You can also end up with a fine. You can end up having to pay the attorney’s fees for the recovery of that money. A lot of bad things can happen.
Likewise, under federal law, the Federal Government has a law that’s called the False Claims Act. Under that law, it’s also a crime to try to get Medicaid services by concealing it. So we don’t wanna do that ever.
Under the federal law, you could also be liable for three times the amount of damages or money that you received from Medicaid.
So, again, never, ever a good idea to try to conceal things from Medicaid.
Get Help Without Hiding Assets from Medicaid
So if you’re stuck in this predicament now. Well, how do I qualify for Medicaid legally? I’ve got too many assets, but at the same time I know I need the government’s help to help me pay for services.
Here’s the Legal Way
Well, there are legal ways to do it. And that’s really what the focus should be. How can I legally position my assets so I can fully disclose everything to the Medicaid office and then from there, qualify for Medicaid.
Example
Let’s say you’ve got $5,000, and you don’t qualify for Medicaid because you have this $5,000. What can you do?
Well, you can spend it down on the nursing home care costs, but you could also, instead of have $5,000 in cash, you could go out and buy a car. That car is going to be exempt under most circumstances from being countable against you for Medicaid purposes.
You can fully disclose that to Medicaid, say, “Hey I bought a car. Here’s what it’s worth: $5,000.” And they’re not gonna have a problem with that.
Note: It is Illegal to Help Someone Hide Assets
So my point is that there’s lots of legal ways to do it, and the most important thing you can do is if you or a loved one are needing to go into a nursing home is to get qualified help because it is even illegal if you attempt to help someone to try to conceal their assets. So we don’t wanna do that ever.
Connect with Bill
Again, my name is Bill Henry. I’m an elder law attorney with Robinson and Henry. If you’ve got any questions, email me at billhenry@robinsonandhenry.com.