Elder Law and
Medicaid/MassHealth
Our elder law practice primarily consists of preparing and executing a plan to assist families in paying for community and nursing home care needed for themselves, their aging parents, other relatives, or friends. This work includes the process of identifying and matching the needs and goals of each family with available resources. We can specifically recommend programs and various sources of funding that can assist families in receiving and paying for care while protecting family assets.
Medicaid is the federal program that pays for long-term skilled nursing home care. Health insurance does not pay for long-term care. Long-term skilled nursing home care costs approximately $390 PER DAY! The core Medicaid rules apply in all 50 states. Because each state contributes funds to the Medicaid program, most states have their own regulations and program name. The Medicaid program in Massachusetts is called MassHealth.
Our firm does a great deal of MassHealth planning. We develop a plan and guide our clients through the steps needed to minimize the loss of assets to nursing home care. We use a highly effective set of tools, such as Medicaid-qualified annuities, irrevocable trusts, home care agreements, and life estate deeds.
We also help our clients find programs to help pay for home care. Such resources include PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), an adult day care program; Frail Elder Waiver and Personal Care Attendant Programs, these programs pay for professional home care; SCO (Senior Care Options), a program to help pay for home and assisted living care; and Aid & Attendance, a home care payment program that assists our veterans and their spouses. During our client meetings, we help our clients choose the best home care payment program and go through the application process, if necessary.