Medicaid planning details?

A: This is a difficult subject for an adviser, even more so for a financial writer. Americans are angry with elder law attorneys and financial advisers who help those with financial resources qualify for Medicaid. The laws continue to change to make it more difficult to qualify for benefits in order to protect this program for the truly indigent. On the flip side, another large group of Americans feels that it is their right to qualify for government-paid long term health care benefits without spending all of their assets. An adviser is caught in the middle. No one would object to an adviser who is held to a fiduciary responsibility telling an individual client what steps would best assure their financial security. In contrast, publishing references and details about such measures or advertising a similar service would appear to be a violation of federal law. The critical legal difference here is the existence of a fiduciary relationship prior to the consideration of Medicaid qualification. The primary focus on my mention in the article to point out that another approach to the problem does exist and, for many, is more cost-effective in the long run than continuing to wrestle with difficult problem of insurance affordability.