
One thing has become clear to me over my 20-year career: Being a lawyer is not for the faint of heart. Oftentimes, we end up being the “bad guys” no matter what we do. Even when you go above and beyond, it is not enough. No matter how fast your team works, it is never enough. However, it only takes one compliment or one happy client to remind you why you do what you do.
Recently, a family was referred to us by a local nursing home because the wife had a stroke and needed skilled care for the foreseeable future. The husband feared that the modest amount of money he and his wife had earned over their lives wouldn’t last long with their $11,400 a month fee at the nursing home. If that money was gone, he would have nothing to support himself with for the future. For help with that problem, the Pennsylvania Medicaid spousal rules are certainly a great start and provide that as the community spouse, the husband would be allowed to keep the house, his car, his retirement account, and one-half of the remaining assets, up to a maximum in 2022 of $137,400.00 and no less than $27,480.00 (those amounts change each year). The social worker who was assisting them explained all of this to the husband, but he still had some trepidation, being only in his late 50s. He wanted to know if that would be enough for him to live another 50 years of his life. He loved the nursing home that he was able to get his wife into and was excited about the care that she would receive. After several sleepless nights for him, the social worker told him to give us a call and I met with him recently. The husband is an absolute joy to work with and was very appreciative of the care that his wife was receiving. He was ecstatic when I was able to tell him that we would be able to not only protect the aforementioned items but also the additional $350,000 on top of the $137,400 that was guaranteed under the law.
We were able to put the plan in place and get approval on the Medicaid application. It is very rare in our profession that family members hug or show outward affection toward their lawyers. I will never forget the moment when we received the application and I was able to tell my client that we were able to protect the items that he knew about, but in addition to that, the other monies that he had feared losing. With tears in his eyes, he hugged me and said, “Jeff I will never be able to repay you. I appreciate everything that the nursing home has done for me and my wife, but it is also comforting to know that now I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to live for the remainder of my life and the care that I receive.”
We are pleased to report that this outcome is a very common one for our clients; we have been able to secure this result for hundreds of clients in and around York, Pennsylvania. If you or a family member have a loved one in a nursing home and need assistance, please call us, and it will be our pleasure to make this success story yours.
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