Who prepares a nursing home Medicaid application in Florida

Attorney Tom Olsen: Robert, I know that we, the Olsen Law Group, we're the one to get people financially qualified for Medicaid using all the Medicaid-compliant tools we have to help them protect their home, their rental properties, their savings, checkings, CDs, IRAs, businesses, you name it. We have all the tools we need to get them protected. We do our work first and then as far as the actual application to be with Medicaid, we turn that over to?

Attorney Robert Hidock: To O'Rourke & Associates. They've been in town forever. Amy O'Rourke, formerly Amy Cameron, all they do is handle Medicaid applications and VA applications, and they also will help with the waitlist. The reason why I will refer to her and only her, is because they have 100% application approval, so they don't get applications denied, because if something gets denied, it costs clients money.

We had a workshop this past Thursday. We had a gentleman in there that was talking about his mom in Puerto Rico and I literally gave them O'Rourke's information and he said, "I'm going to call them." I got a call from them, O'Rourke Associates the next day and he's like, "They retained us." He signed up for the waiver and we also signed up to get his mom VA benefits. He was so happy because now he's getting more help for his mom.

Tom: Robert, when they file that Medicaid application, if mom was already in a nursing home, if the family members just let the nursing home know that Medicaid application has been filed. Does a nursing home stop asking for money knowing that they're just going to have to wait for the Medicaid application to be approved? That might be 30 or 60 days down the road.

Robert: They do. What happens is, and I've been seeing a lot of this lately where somebody has bought into a facility and they're down to their final $60,000 or so, and they will, let's say, need to apply for Medicaid. Then we will do the personal service contract. The facility will give them the-- They don't have to then private pay, they give them Medicaid pending. That means that you only have to spend your patient responsibility, which is normally your income less your personal needs allowance and less any spousal distribution. If your income is $3,000 a month and you have no spouses, basically that $3,000 is going to go to the nursing home and that's what they agree to pay. Then the state will reimburse them and they don't have to worry about private paying $12,000 a month.

Tom: All right. Robert, all we want people to know, we want them to get the word out there, and that is that when their friend, family member, neighbor, coworker, has to go into a nursing home, and it costs $10,000 to $12,000 a month. They're scared that mom or dad are going to have to spend everything they've worked for all their lives on the cost of a nursing home and they think that there's nothing that can be done. We want you to know the Olsen Law Group, we have all the Medicaid-compliant tools we need to protect their life savings from the cost of a nursing home and get them qualified for Medicaid.

Robert: Absolutely. Tom, when you tell people things, then they come to one of our workshops or I'm having a consult with them, because they have this perception of what could happen. When you tell them-- lay it out for them how you're going to help them, you can just literally see their eyes get wider, they feel relieved. It's really a good feeling.

Tom: Most people out there know that Medicaid has a five-year look-back period. Occasionally you'll have people say, "Tom, you know what? I'm just going to give away every penny I own, give away every penny I own to my kids, and then five years from now I'll qualify for Medicaid." No, that's not a good plan. You don't want to give your wealth away to your kids until it becomes important or necessary to.

Robert: We have people that have done that and there are ways that we can correct that-

Speaker: One minute.

Robert: -but that's not what you would want to do. Traditionally we have plans that bypass that look-back period and will protect all the assets and make things very easy on a Medicaid application.

Tom: Hey, folks, we have booklets, free booklets for you, Easy Ways to Avoid Probate and How to Protect Your Life Savings From the Cost Of a Nursing Home. If you'd like those free booklets or you'd like to attend a workshop on both of those topics, call the Olsen Law Group in Orlando anytime at 407-423-5561. Or contact us through our website, olsenlawgroup.com for your free booklet on Easy Ways to Avoid Probate or How to Protect Your Life Savings From the Cost of a Nursing Home. Or we have workshops on both of those topics. Again, contact the Olsen Law Group in Orlando at 407-423-5561 or through our website, olsenlawgroup.com. Everybody, thanks so much for all your great calls and questions. I do so much appreciate it. My name is Tom Olsen. The name of the show is Olsen on Law.

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