Yes, most likely he or she can. Medicaid is a “means tested government entitlement.” In plain language, this means that a person’s income and resources must be below a certain level in order to be eligible for benefits, among other eligibility requirements. With proper planning, a person can protect his or her assets. Many people are often misinformed regarding Medicaid planning issues, and think that there is nothing they can do to protect their assets and must first spend them down to pay for their nursing home fees until they are below the Medicaid level of assets limit. This is almost always not true! In most cases, at least some assets can be protected even at a very late date. However, the earlier the planning is started, generally the more assets can be protected.
By Esther Schwartz Zelmanovitz
