Writing a book on a legal topic is like trying to hit a moving target! In between new editions of "How to Protect Your Family's Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs: Medicaid Secrets" (www.MedicaidSecrets.com) you will be entitled to free updates as part of the cost of the book.
As the law changes or states issue regulations that change the interpretation of the law, I will publish them here. If you find any errors, please let me know. To thank you for your trouble, I'll give you credit on this page. But please, before you send in an error report, check the list below to make sure that the error hasn't already been reported.
UPDATES TO 2016 (10th) EDITION: Medicaid Secrets:
| Chapter # | Page # | Description of Change | Eagle-Eyed Error Reporter |
12 |
146 |
Paragraph 1, last line, change $152,590 to $147,410; change $52,590 to $47,410 Paragraph 3, change $41,370 to $46,550; change $152,590 to $147,410. |
KGH |
Index |
303 |
Veterans benefits, "12-month lookback rule" should be "36-month lookback rule" | KGH |
UPDATES TO 2013 (7th) EDITION: Medicaid Secrets:
| Chapter # | Page # | Description of Change | Eagle-Eyed Error Reporter |
7 |
50 |
Fifty Percent States, paragraph 2, change page number to 296. | KGH |
UPDATES TO 2013 EDITION: Medicaid Planning: A to Z:
| Chapter # | Page # | Description of Change | Eagle-Eyed Error Reporter |
18 |
269 |
Only applies to a few early printing version books: Bottom table, 2d heading, should read "The Veteran is Living and Gets NO Medical Rating" | KGH |
UPDATES TO 2012 (6th) EDITION:
UPDATES TO 2011 (5th) EDITION:
| Chapter # | Page # | Description of Change | Eagle-Eyed Error Reporter |
Appendix |
21 |
If you purchased an early printing of the 5th edition, it may still have the 2010 Tables in the back of the book. If so, here is a link to the 2011 Tables, which you can print out and stick in the back of your book: Click to see 2011 State Numbers for Medicaid planning
|
KGH |
18 |
236 |
The first sentence (which started on page 235) states "(See the list of nine categories of Pension income applications in the section " How Is Pension Calculated", on page 224)"."
The list is actually on page 240. |
LM |
UPDATES TO 2010 (4th) EDITION:
| Chapter # | Page # | Description of Change | Eagle-Eyed Error Reporter |
4 |
21 |
In paragraph two of the Example, line 6, change "July 1" to "April 1". Thus the sentence will now read "On Sept. 1 Martha was approved for Medicaid effective April 1." This demonstrates the rule that with retroactive coverage, you can apply for coverage beginning up to three months prior to the date you apply for Medicaid if the applicant would have qualified had you applied on that earlier date. Thus, once the applicant is approved, the effective date of coverage will be that earlier date. |
KGH |
10 |
88 |
Change first paragraph heading to Borrow Money from a Family Member. | KGH |
12 |
121 |
First paragraph under "Payback to State": Delete entire last sentence of first full paragraph ("Note, however…"). NOTE: The payback provisions of a Medicaid annuity apply to all such annuities, whether or not in an IRA or other form of retirement plan. |
KGH |
12 |
135 |
Paragraph 3: Delete this portion of the final sentence: ", and you avoid the requirement that the state be named as the beneficiary of the annuity". | KGH |
13 |
140 |
Last paragraph: Delete "North Carolina"; it repealed its state gift tax effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. | KGH |
16 |
174 |
Change "dependent" in third bullet point to "child". | KGH |
UPDATES TO 2009 (3rd) EDITION:
| Chapter # | Page # | Description of Change | Eagle-Eyed Error Reporter |
6 |
27 |
As mentioned in the book, the MMMNA changes on July 1 of every year. The federal government has just published the new figure for 2009, which will go into effect on July 1, 2009. Currently the figure is $1,750, but will increase to $1,821.25 for states in the mainland of the U.S., plus the District of Columbia. AK and HI are slightly higher. The practical effect of this increase is twofold: (i) the spouse living in the community may be able to retain an additional $850/year in income from the nursing home spouse, and (ii) if the income of both spouses is low enough, it could result in the Community Spouse being able to protect an additional $28,000 or so of assets of the couple. (See pp. 45-47 of the book.) |
KGH |
18 |
223 |
Last line of Example 2: change "$1,776" to "$1,176". | RH |
Glossary |
243 |
Second to last line: change 2008 to 2009. | RH |
Table 4 |
264-265 |
Table heading: change 2007 to 2009. | RH |
Table 5 |
266 | Table heading: change 2008 to 2009. | RH |
UPDATES TO 2008 (2nd) EDITION:
| Chapter # | Page # | Description of Change | Eagle-Eyed Error Reporter |
12 |
124, par. 1
|
In the Annuity Purchase by the Community Spouse section, it states that the purchase of a Medicaid annuity by the Community Spouse will result in a gift and therefore should be done long in advance, to have the purchase/gift outside the five-year lookback period. It should be made clear that there are only two situations when such a purchase will result in a gift: (i) in those states where an annuity payment causes the Community Spouse's income to exceed the MMMNA (see p. 120, third full paragraph), and (ii) if the annuity has a guarantee period that exceeds the Community Spouse's life expectancy. In either of such cases, the purchase of the annuity will result in some portion of the purchase price being deemed a gift, and therefore the five-year lookback period must be considered. In all other cases, the Community Spouse can use the full amount of excess assets (i.e., the full "spend down" amount) to purchase a Medicaid annuity payable to the Community Spouse, and not have to worry about the lookback period since such purchase will not be deemed a gift. Thus, it can be used at any time, right up until a Medicaid application is filed, and thus must be considered a valuable "crisis" planning technique. | Jim Billington, Vancouver, WA |
12 |
124, par. 3 |
As explained above, when planning for the possible need for nursing home care of the Community Spouse at some point after the annuity purchase, there may or may not be a five-year lookback period to worry about. More critical will be the amount of each monthly annuity payment to the Community Spouse, since such payments, when added to the other income of the Community Spouse (e.g., Social Security and pension payments), may exceed the state's maximum income requirements to qualify for Medicaid. | |
17 |
189, par. 6 |
Change "$71,500" to "$72,000". |
UPDATES TO 2007 (1st) EDITION:
| Chapter # | Page # | Description of Change | Eagle-Eyed Error Reporter |
6 |
25 |
Example 2: Change "$1,809" (2006 amount) to "$1,869" (2007 amount) | Ken Schroer, Denver attorney |
6 |
27 |
2nd paragraph, 6th line -- change "may be allocated to the nursing home spouse" to "may be allocated to the Community Spouse" | Ken Schroer, Denver attorney |
4 |
17 |
Retroactive Coverage: At least one state (Massachusetts) has eliminated the right of a person in a nursing home to obtain Medicaid coverage retroactively to the date of application for Medicaid. The general rule under federal law is to permit 3 months retroactive coverage. However, this state obtained a waiver to deviate from this federal requirement. IMPORTANT: To be on the safe side, be sure to apply for Medicaid as soon as possible, even before admission to a nursing home, assuming the applicant would otherwise qualify! (June 1, 2007) | KGH |
6 |
29 |
The Excess Shelter Allowance (ESA) increased from $495 to $513 on July 1, 2007. | |
6, 12 |
various (see index) |
The Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA) increased from $1,650 to $1,711 as of July 1, 2007. This figure is used in various examples in the book; see especially Chapters 6, 12, and the case studies at the end. While the examples will continue to use the "old" figure until the next edition, I wanted to be sure that readers of the book had the current figure, should they wish to do any similar calculations for their own situation. |
KGH |
Appendix |
193 |
In paragraph two, www.NBI.com should be www.NBI-sems.com. | Ken Priest |
In order to find out the particular state-specific Medicaid numbers for your state, go to https://www.medicaidannuity.com/resources/state-resource/. Once there, click your state on the U.S. map (or your state name below the map). This will take you to the Medicaid numbers specifically for your state. They are updated each January, although a few states lag behind and may not update their figures until a bit later in the year. (Thanks to Krause Financial Services for keeping these tables up-to-date and providing them to the public!)
State Medicaid Agency Contacts
Please go to this federal government listing of programs for all the states. Each state's page then has one or more additional links to contact information and detailed program descriptions for the individual state:
http://www.benefits.gov/benefits/browse-by-category/category/MED