Why have Hildebrand Law Firm help you file Medicare application?

Why you should turn to Hildebrand Law Firm to help you file your Medicaid application on behalf of your loved one?

Filing for Medicaid assistance for assisted living and/or nursing home care is as simple as completing the Medicaid application forms, you may think. There’s no reason to get an attorney involved.

At Hildebrand Law Firm, LLC, we encourage our clients to perform legal tasks on their own, if it makes sense. However, Medicaid is one area that is filled with legal landmines. We have concluded, after working with our clients, that a Medicaid application should be performed by attorneys. Working with an attorney can be critical to the success of your application. Here are a few reasons how working with Hildebrand Law Firm, LLC can be beneficial.

• Timing is everything. We make sure that the client is actually eligible and is filing the application at the correct time. There can be very serious financial consequences for filing either too early, or too late. And, the Medicaid offices can sometimes be overwhelmed with applications. A denial of your application because it is ill-timed can result in a delay of months, if not years. We have served clients after their applicable has been denied several months after filing it, and in some cases after re-filing, is still denied. That represents tens of thousands of dollars of lost coverage, now owed to the nursing home.

• Documentation and information support successful applications. Our most common way that we fix unsuccessful applications is by helping the client supply the right documentation and information in a way that will be examined and approved by the Medicaid office. We know what documentation is required to support an application. Submitting a correctly supported application the first time saves money, and stress.

• Our loyalty is to you, and you only. Let’s face it, you want someone in your corner. Others may not be so motivated to ensure that you have a successful application while protecting as many of your assets as possible.

• We have tried and true ways of protecting your assets, so that it doesn’t all have to disappear in a “spend down” approach. We’ve had clients tell us that they were counseled to buy expensive cars, install unnecessary roofs on their houses, or, even worse, gift the money to the children.

• Hildebrand Law Firm, LLC can assist you with a Medicaid approved plan to achieve Medicaid eligibility. As part of the plan, we’ll discuss various Medicaid exemptions and allowable expenditures until assets are reduced sufficiently to qualify for Medicaid.

• The best news yet: Legal fees for Medicaid planning and/or assistance with preparing and filing the Medicaid application are allowable Medicaid spend-down expenses. So, take the stress off of yourself and turn to us to support you with this all-important task.

Here are some examples of situations that our clients have brought to us:

Husband and wife were told by a social worker that husband needed to go to a memory care facility. The social worker then directed them to avail themselves of the services of the in-hospital “Medicaid Enrollment Facilitator” to help with the Medicaid application. Thinking that she was obtaining useful, “free help,” wife was very grateful. However, what she did not know is that she filed the application too early, without a thorough review of assets, and now the memory care facility that husband has been at for three months is evicting him.

Daughter filled out a Medicaid application on behalf of her mother, and believed that the house that they were living in together was “protected.” Daughter was horrified to learn after her mother’s death that a lien had been placed on the mother’s home and that the house could have been protected with a well-drafted irrevocable trust, and/or under one of the Medicaid exceptions to the transfer-of-assets rules. An Elder Law Attorney could have helped them properly transfer and title assets in order to avoid the lien.

A husband used an independent Medicaid Application Preparer as recommended by his wife’s nursing home to prepare the application. The husband was told to “spend down” excess assets on cost of nursing home care and offers no other solutions. Husband later learns from Hildebrand Law Firm attorneys that he was never advised of his legal rights as a spouse and could have pursued other avenues to secure Medicaid for his wife much sooner and avoided an unnecessary spend down of assets.

If you decide to use Hildebrand Law Firm, LLC for your Medicaid application, we take you through the process as painlessly as possible. We would be honored to work with you at any time, but the sooner you think about estate planning, and getting ready for a possible Medicaid application, the more options we can present to you for protection of your assets.

Need Help with Medicaid Planning? Have Questions?

Our firm is here to help. We understand how overwhelming this process can be. Call our Milwaukee office today for a free consultation at 414-409-7122, or fill out our contact form.