WHAT IS A MEDICAID LIEN ?
One of the most devastating way to lose your assets is to not transfer your home or land to someone prior to applying for Medicaid. Medicaid is a public assistance program for low-income individuals. To become eligible, one must meet certain income and demographic requirements. If you want to receive Medicaid benefits you cannot have but a few assets. If you transfer your assets to an individual or an entity five year prior to applying for Medicaid you will be penalized and will be ineligible to obtain benefits. The duration of your penalty period is based on the date of the asset transfer and how it coincided with your applications date. For example, say you own a home and you transfer the deed to your son on November 1, 2015, fast forward three years later and you apply for Medicaid on November 1, 2018. Due to the five-year look back period you will have to wait two years to reapply to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Planning is essential to securing your Medicaid benefits.
Once you receive benefits and begin residing in a long-term care facility and if you owe an outstanding debt to the facility the nursing facility has the legal authority to place a lien on your home or land to recover the debt. However, going back to the example if you transferred the land to your son, the facility will not have a home or land to place a lien on thereby protecting the family home.
