Will I Lose My Medicaid If I Get Married

Date:

Will I Lose My Home

Will I Lose My House If I go to a Nursing Home?

No. If you, the community spouse, continue to live in your home, you will not lose it, regardless of the value. In addition to your house being exempt , other assets are also considered exempt. Therefore you are permitted to hold onto them. These include:

  • Household items
  • Life insurance policies that have a face value no greater than $1,500

Medicaid Protections For The Healthy Spouse

Medicaid law provides special protections for the spouses of Medicaid applicants to make sure the spouses have the minimum support needed to continue to live in the community while their husband or wife is receiving long-term care benefits, usually in a nursing home.

The so-called “spousal protections” work this way: if the Medicaid applicant is married, the countable assets of both the community spouse and the institutionalized spouse are totaled as of the date of “institutionalization,” the day on which the ill spouse enters either a hospital or a long-term care facility in which he or she then stays for at least 30 days.

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City, State

In order to be eligible for Medicaid benefits a nursing home resident may have no more than $2,000 in assets . In general, the community spouse may keep one-half of the couple’s total “countable” assets up to a maximum of $130,380 . Called the “community spouse resource allowance,” this is the most that a state may allow a community spouse to retain without a hearing or a court order. The least that a state may allow a community spouse to retain is $26,076 .

Example: If a couple has $100,000 in countable assets on the date the applicant enters a nursing home, he or she will be eligible for Medicaid once the couple’s assets have been reduced to a combined figure of $52,000 — $2,000 for the applicant and $50,000 for the community spouse.

Social Security Disability Insurance

SSDI is the benefit paid to disabled workers who have paid taxes into the Social Security for multiple years. To receive SSDI, you have to fit the Social Security Administration’s definition of disability, but you can be unmarried or married. Getting married won’t ever effect SSDI benefits that you collect based on your own disability and your own earnings record.

However, certain dependents of a disabled worker can receive SSDI auxiliary or survivor benefits based on the disabled worker’s earning record. Some of these dependents’ benefits are given only to family members who are unmarried.

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Do My Disability Benefits Remain Intact If I Get Married

By Bethany K. Laurence, Attorney

Some types of Social Security Disability are for unmarried family members of the disabled person , while other types are for married or unmarried people, but have income limits. In that case, a new husband or wife’s income can be counted toward these limits and could make a disabled person financially ineligible for benefits. Let’s take a closer look at both of these situations.

Will Carrie Lose Her Cdb Or Medicare

If I Divorce My Husband Will I Lose My Salvation?

It depends on whether Daniel himself is receiving Social Security benefits . Since neither Medicare nor CDB are âmeans-testedâ programs, the Social Security Administration will not look at Carrieâs assets or Danielâs income and assets to determine whether she is eligible. She has been eligible for CDB and Medicare simply because of her disability that began before age 22 and the retirement of her father, who has a Social Security work record. Her marriage to another social security recipient would not cause her to lose her own CDB eligibility. However, if Daniel is not a social security beneficiary, Carrie would lose her own CDB eligibility that derives from her fatherâs status as a retired Social Security wage earner. If Carrie instead had been receiving a Social Security Disability Insurance benefit, based upon her own work record, as a result of later onset of her disability, she would not lose her SSDI entitlement due to marriage.

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Advance Directives For Health Care And Powers Of Attorney For Finances

In a typical estate planning case, a spouse is usually named as the primary agent under a power of attorney and health care directive to make both financial and medical decisions in the event of unexpected incapacity. When an individual with a cognitive or developmental disability gets married â especially to another individual with cognitive or developmental disabilities, this is a more challenging decision. On one hand, the commitment of the individuals through marriage suggests that the same rules should apply: the spouse with the disability should be named as the primary agent. On the other hand, families must be realistic in recognizing the limitations of some individuals with disabilities, and whether the spouse is capable of what is required of an agent.

Staying On Medicaid After Marriage

I have a question. We live in North Carolina and plan on getting married this year. My fiancé and I have one child together and I have 2 of my own. Right now my daughters have Medicaid. My question is when we get married will they lose their Medicaid even though my fiancé isn’t their biological father?

Answers

Best Answer

When your fiance becomes part of your household, his income may bump you up to a level where your daughters may not be eligible for Medicaid anymore.

Best Answer

You will become a family of 5 when you are married. You’ll have to see with your social worker what will happen. This will all depend on your combined income and living expenses after you’re married.

Best Answer

Don’t rely on us. Go see the experts at the Social Security office. Get it in writing, too. Hope all works out.

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Divorced Spouse’s Survivors Benefit

An ex-spouse who is receiving benefits based on her deceased ex-husband or wife’s record will lose these benefits if she or he gets married before a certain age. If the surviving divorced spouse remarries after age 60 , the SSA will ignore the marriage.

For more information on SSDI benefits for ex-spouses, see our article on getting disability as the divorced spouse of a disabled person.

What Couples Need To Know About Medicaid

Should I Avoid Getting Married Because of THIS?

A guide to the qualification rules when only one spouse needs benefits

The rules for Medicaid benefits can be tricky for married couples, especially when only one spouse needs the benefits. Medicaid assumes that both spouses of a married couple are financially responsible for one another. As a result, when Medicaid determines a spouses eligibility for benefits, the assets of the husband or wife who isnt applying known as the community spouse are expected to contribute to the care of the other. The Law Protecting Spouses

Thats why the full financial history of both spouses is assessed when ascertaining Medicaid eligibility. However, The Spousal Impoverishment Act protects the community spouse from becoming severely impoverished. The guidelines specify the community spouses ability to keep some income and assets, while still allowing the applicant the option to obtain Medicaid benefits.

As a general rule, the husband or wife who isnt applying for Medicaid benefits may keep up to half of both spouses joint liquid assets. But there is a limit to the amount of countable assets that the non-applicant spouse can keep. Known as the Maximum Community Spouse Resource Allowance , the limit is currently $117,240. Next year, the limit will rise to $119,220.

Please note: Medicaid qualification guidelines vary from state to state and may change from year to year. An Example of One Married Couple

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Do I Lose My Husband’s Income If He Enters A Nursing Home And Goes On Medicaid

It depends on your income. Medicaid calculates what you need as monthly income based on a fixed formula . To the extent your own income is less than the amount they determine, you may keep your husbands income to make up the difference. The balance of his income, less a small personal needs allowance, must be paid to the facility. If your own income exceeds the allowance set by Medicaid you do not need to pay the difference to the nursing home you can keep all of your income no matter how high.

For more on Medicaid’s income protections for the healthy spouse, .

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If You Gained Or Became A Dependent Due To An Adoption Foster Care Placement Or Court Order

You must send documents showing the name of the person who became a dependent and the date they became one.

  • Acceptable documents include adoption letters or records, court orders, and foster care papers.

30 days of picking a plan

First day of month after you pick a planNeed a different start date? If you originally applied through the Marketplace, contact the Marketplace Call Center to request that your coverage start be moved back to the date it would have started if the Marketplace had originally determined you eligible for a Marketplace plan.

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Supplemental Security Income And Medicaid

If you’ve received Supplemental Security Income payments and return to work, you can generally keep your Medicaid coverage, even if you now earn too much to qualify for SSI. That’s as long as you’re still disabled or blind, the criteria for SSI, along with low income, and meet other SSI requirements. The amount you can earn and still qualify for Medicaid depends upon state regulations. Other requirements for retaining Medicaid include:

  • you can’t work without Medicaid benefits
  • your gross earnings aren’t sufficient to replace Medicaid, SSI and public funding for necessary attendants
  • your SSI payment eligibility lasted at least one month.

Tip

Getting and losing your SSI because your combined incomes exceed eligibility limits doesn’t necessarily mean you will lose Medicaid coverage. Much depends on your state of residence, and whether you still meet the Medicaid retention criteria. If you do lose Medicaid, you may qualify for Affordable Care Act coverage and subsidies.

Will I Lose My 401k Ira Stocks Or Savings

If I Get Divorced, Will I Lose My Salvation?

The short answer is maybe, it depends on your state and the combined value of these assets. However, by working with a Medicaid planner, it is likely the non-institutionalized spouse will be able to keep most of these assets.

Unlike income, where a Medicaid recipients income is considered separate from his or her spouse, a married couples assets are considered jointly owned and are used to determine Medicaid eligibility. This holds true even if the assets, such as a savings account, are only in one spouses name. Of course, certain assets, such as your home, household goods, vehicle, and personal belongings are exempt. .

Countable assets include:

  • Stocks and bonds
  • Property that is not your primary residence

Independent Retirement Accounts and 401Ks are a little bit trickier. For example, there are approximately 20 states that allow a community spouses 401K or IRA to be exempt, given the asset is fully owned by him or her.

In most states, as of 2019, a non-institutional spouse is permitted to keep up to $126,420 in assets, in addition to their home and vehicle.

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How Marriage Affects Ssdi Benefits

SSDI benefits are earned by paying into the Social Security system via payroll deductions. In order to be eligible for SSDI benefits, you must have accrued enough “work credits” to be covered. If you receive benefits based on someone else’s work record, you may lose your benefits by getting married, depending on your relationship to the person on whose record you collect Social Security benefits.

Your own work record. If you are receiving Social Security disability benefits under your own work record , then getting married will not affect your benefit payments. This is the case no matter whether your future spouse works, receives disability benefits, or has no income.

If you are receiving benefits as the widow of a Social Security disability recipient, you will lose your benefit by getting married if you get married before age 60 .

Ex-spouse’s work record. If you are receiving Social Security benefits under your ex-spouse’s work record, getting married will cause you to lose eligibility for benefits.

If you are receiving surviving divorced spouse benefits, you’ll lose these benefits if you get remarried before age 60. If you are a divorced spouse receiving benefits due to a disability on your , you’ll lose these benefits if you get remarried before age 50.

How Can A Professional Medicaid Planner Help

Professional Medicaid planners provide a wide variety of assistance, from helping with the Medicaid application paperwork to restructuring finances to ensure eligibility. The rules of Medicaid eligibility are complex, state-specific and ever-changing. And the eligibility requirements differ for a single individual versus a married couple. The application process can be exceptionally complex when only one spouse of a married couple is applying for long-term Medicaid. Applications can be further complicated when one spouse is receiving veterans benefits. Professional Medicaid planners are extremely knowledgeable in the complexities of Medicaid, as well as have experience in situations, such as yours, where one spouse will be entering a Medicaid-funded nursing home. Working with a professional is particularly beneficial if you and your spouse are over the income and / or asset limit. Because being over the limits doesnt necessarily equate to denial of Medicaid services. To learn more about professional Medicaid planners, .

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Medicaid And Unmarried Couples

In most cases, Medicaid eligibility is dependent on financial need. People with high incomes or too many assets may not qualify for Medicaid benefits. Medicaid often evaluates a person’s eligibility based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income which considers a person’s household size and income. Understanding what constitutes a household can help you evaluate whether you will qualify for Medicaid.

Generally, Medicaid doesn’t consider unmarried couples to be a household. That means even if you live with a boyfriend or girlfriend, Medicaid will likely treat you as if you were single. Medicaid’s treatment of unmarried couples is good news if you or your partner want to qualify for benefits, but the other person’s income or assets would create an eligibility problem.

Medicaid Is Keeping People With Disabilities From Getting Married

How do I get on Medicaid?

As politicians propose cutting Medicaid by 25 percent, more than six million disabled Americans face losing the coverage and services they need to live. Among those unfamiliar with the necessity of Medicaid, an attitude exists that those with disabilities choose to rely on government assistance even when it restricts their lives and liberties. For Americans with disabilities, being on Medicaid isnt a choice, its a means of survival.

There are few things in this world Kimberly Glass wants more than to marry her fiance, Jacob Lombardi. The pair met 15 years ago when they were in high school. Twelve years later Glass and Lombardi reconnected and started dating. Now, they have a 1-year-old daughter named Abbigale.

What they dont have is the ability to get married not if Glass wants to survive.

Glass, 35, was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, or as its commonly known, brittle bone disease, a rare genetic condition affecting less than 50,000 Americans. Over the past three decades, her fragile bones have endured hundreds of fractures so many, shes lost count.

Even with a well paying job, Glass said, she would be unable to cover her medical expenses. I have a lot of stuff that is considered special needs. A typical insurance company wont cover it. If they did it would be a huge copay, she told The Mighty.

As much as Glass wants to work, its not worth the risk of her and Abbigale losing their health insurance:

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Incarceration Institutionalization And Medicaid

If you are incarcerated, Medicaid doesn’t pay for medical care. However, you can apply for Medicaid while in jail or prison so you can receive benefits more quickly upon release. Some states do allow incarcerated individuals to stay on Medicaid, even though they do not receive benefits while in jail or prison.

Those institutionalized in non-prison or jail settings are usually able to keep Medicaid coverage, as long as the facility meets state and federal certification standards.

What Can Be Done To Protect My Assets

You cannot simply give your assets away to qualify a spouse for Medicaid. This can put you in violation of Medicaids 5-year Look Back Period and result in a period of Medicaid ineligibility. However, there are ways for you to protect your assets. You can put money into non-exempt assets, such as paying for home modifications / renovations, vehicle modifications, or purchasing an irrevocable funeral trust. You can also pay off debt, such as your mortgage loan or credit cards. In addition, you could purchase an annuity. This takes countable assets and transforms them into non-countable income. Some of these approaches are straightforward and others are complicated. It is best to consult with a Medicaid eligibility expert before taking any action to ensure you are not in violation of Medicaids complicated rules.

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After You Submit Your Documents

You should get a letter or notice in your HealthCare.gov account within a couple of weeks. Itll say if your Special Enrollment Period has been confirmed.

  • If your Special Enrollment Period is confirmed:

  • Well send the confirmation to the insurance plan you picked.
  • Youll need to pay your first premium directly to the insurance company not to the Health Insurance Marketplace®. Your coverage wont start until you pay your first premium.
  • If confirmation delays kept you from using your plan after the coverage start date, you may have to pay premiums for one or more previous months. When you do, medical expenses you had after the start date may be covered. This is called retroactive coverage.
  • If your Special Enrollment Period cant be confirmed using the submitted documents:

  • Youll get a letter or notice in your Marketplace account explaining why.
  • You can upload one or more different documents to confirm.
  • If you dont have any of the acceptable documents, you can send a written statement explaining why. Learn more about what to include in the statement.
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