VA benefits and pensions overview, Part 5

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

The following podcast is by Mr Jim Koewler, elder law and special needs attorney, helping and protecting those who need long term care. And Welcome back everyone to the answers for elders podcasts radio network. And again I have been talking with Mr Jim Koewler, attorney at lave elder law, attorney in State of Ohio, and we have been talking about eligibility and and veterans, quote unquote, benefits. And if you have a loved one that has that has served time in the military, there could be some benefits available to them. And so make sure you check out all of our pad cast podcasts in this segment. And we’re going to wrap up this last podcast with you, Jim, and talking about eligibility. So the stage is yours, my friend. Thank you. In our previous sections we talked about financial, not we talked about eligibility other than financial issues, for be a pension, what most people call aid in attendance, and they call it that incorrectly. Sorry, but now we’re going to talk about financial eligibility because that got more complicated. Exactly two thousand and eighteen there was a rule change, actually a new rule, not a rule change, a new rule put out in two thousand and eighteen. That made eligibility easier in some ways on financial issues, but much more difficult in other ways. So this is past Carre is. She’s past everything else, and also not talking about the income, whether your costs of care are close to your income. This is about assets. Now, okay, at what you had in the bank. What you have in the bank as you have after your income has arrived. You paid your expenses for the month and now one month rolls into the next. That is assets for this purpose. Is very similar to the way Medicaid looks at what they call resources. Okay, so financial eligibility on assets for va pension is and these are the two thousand and twenty one numbers. Remember, that’s December twenty one through December of twenty two, we presume. So we’re taping in February of twenty two. These the current numbers. In February twenty two, your assets have to be less than one n’t thirty eight thousand, four hundred and eighty nine dollars, for those of you who are only listening number. How they come to that? Why didn’t they just say hundred and forty thou? Well, they picked the actually in two thousand and eighteen. When they when va adopted this rule, they chose the number that matched the community spouse resource allowance maximum in Medicaid. Okay. So they aligned. They aligned a medic a very useful medicaid number. Okay, and he very with what became a very useful or very important va number. Okay. But Medicaid gets its cost of living adjustment through so security, which is now the chained cost of living adjustment meeting. It’s a little lower than actual cost of living changes, where va does not. So Va is usually about a tenth of a point, maybe even more higher. But you take any cost of living adjustment. Whatever round number you had in your one is gone in your two. Okay. So it’s not around number. Hey, we’re lucky they got they took the sense to zero. Okay. But yeah, it’s an odd number. But it’s to the history of started with a round number and then cost of living adjustments mess it up, both for Medicaid and Va. Okay, it wasn’t around number when they adopted the rule because they went with medicaids already not round number through its years of cost of living adjustments. But then it just the numbers have diverged a little bit. Okay. So assets a hundred three eight thousand and forty nine dollars or less. Now, to make it complicated, that number is assets plus one year, with our looking at his assets, plus one year of income, as va calculates it. So it’s gross income, healthcare costs or income for va purposes. I’ve APP okay, this is not something to try at home. This is this is a huge complication for people who don’t understand it right. And, just like Medicaid, they made it a non user friendly system. Go get help from someone who is accredited. We accreditation is back in segment one. Okay, and you know, here’s the thing that I’m going to reiterate. How many families do I work with that? They tried to do it on their own and then when it got rejected, it was like six seven months back easily. Easily the financial analysis, since this two thousand and eighteen rule really has slowed down the process. Okay, so, and I’m now mind you, if you are close to going broken. I’m assuming you are the applicant here. All right, you are close to going broke. Thirtyzero seems to get a quicker review. And if you’ve got what looks to be eligibility but plenty of money, just to you know, use a very loosey Goosey term, then you’re going to go on the Oh, I’ll get to it pile. If you are the Oh Jeez, if I don’t get with this, you know, get on this, Jim’s going to right, gonna be on the street. There will stop, Va will get to it. Okay. And thirty grand, and there’s no hard and fast number. This is just a very practical through experience. Thirty grand seems to be kind of a tipping point there. Okay. And Yeah, time counts, time at par here. Okay, sure does. And then in addition, within that hundred thirty eight, for four hundred and eighty nine, they look at the applicants real estate, including the home, except for two acres. So if the applicant has a farm, lives on the farm and let’s say thirty acres, twenty eight of those acres count. So the cash value, the you know, the sale value, according to the market, or at least according to the county records, of what land is worth, that counts toward the hundred thirty eight. So people who huge farms are not going to be able to get in. Really, I think it’s unfair, but that’s what va did. And then, as I mentioned before in an earlier segment, the income is belower close to medical expense. In addition, in two thousand and eighteen, and we’ll talk about this through the rest of the segment, you could qualify financially for be a benefits even if you had given something away the day before you applied. What medicated calling in proper transfer and looks back five years on. Va did not have a look back and that was occurring to the law. That was in accordance with the law. In two thousand and eighteen this rule creates a three year look back. Now that is a huge legal issue. Looking for the right person to take to court. Absolutely the Community of elder law attorneys and the words all the lawyers like me. We gossip like crazy. Okay, do we all like each other? Not all of us, but most of us. Yeah, we are looking for the right plaintiff to take the court because the rule does not agree with the law. The law should control, but we want to find a sympathetic plaintiff. We don’t want to find somebody who gave away a million dollars because the court’s really going to want to beat this person up. Okay, we’re looking for somebody who gave away eight thou and then didn’t get coverage. So we are looking for somebody to be the up on this rule or the biding administration will change it because it’s trump here a rule. Biden are administration is been kind of busy with other stuff. I can’t know what it was. It’s really taking their time. What we was that doing then? And Oh, yeah, covid but maybe they’ll get to this, maybe they won’t. We’ll see the next president is. But this is a big issue among out law attorneys, especially those doing va work. Okay, so via, if we’re if someone has given money away to create financial eligibility, that is a pension issue. We haven’t yet talked about compensation in detail. Be a disability. We have talked about via health benefits in detail. Will bring those up probably in some future program because it’s going to be the last segments that on on va pension and the basics of the a benefits. Okay, but prior transfers, giving stuff ful way is an issue only for be a pension, because that’s where financial eligibilities a big deal. There’s a three year look back. So be able to look back in the last three years from data application, figure the whole month and then back another three years. So thirty six months plus the mouth. You’re looking at it. So thankally, thirty seven months in total. Okay. Well, and will penalize things given away only to the extent there created eligibility. So let’s say somebody was at the hundred thirty eight thousand dollar level. I’m sorry that someone was at a hundred forty five thousand dollars. So they’re seven grand over. Okay, gave away Twentyzeros, so now that a hundred twenty five grand. Well, the penalty will only be the seven grand applying to the seven grand from where they were to the point of eligibility. If they are below add or below the hundred thirty eight thousand that they’re allowed to have an apply and they give some of that away, be it doesn’t care. That’s fine. Medicaid is fussy about it. If you give away something even below you’re two grand, they’re going to penalize you for that. At least in Ohio they are. Va Not so much so. And the penalty can be up to five years. So look back is not as long as the potential penalty unbelievable. They look at what you gave away or what you prior transferred to make your quotes it. Divide that by two thousand and four and thirty one and twenty five cents. That is if you look back to the prior segment. That is the maximum. Be a benefit that a married couple can receive when the spouse, we’ll sorry, when the veteran is the one who needs eight in attendance. That’s where that number comes from. So that gets changed with cost of living in December. Okay, defied them the amount given away by thirty one on Arteris, let’s say they gave away twenty fourzero dollars to get them to the point there were eligible a hundred thirty eight thousand dollars and BEA’s going to penalize them for ten months. Okay. So before I move on to tricky issues, that penalty starts the next month after the improper the prior transfer. Okay. So if the prior transfer was twelve months ago and the penalty is ten months, the penalties run out right. It’s different than Medicaid. By the way. Okay, that is a different than medicad will yes, at some point in the future. So do not use the pain the Medicaid penalty system and use it in bea starts different. This is the way Medicaid used to be before two thousand seven. So if you if you remember that and if you remember the public, you probably don’t, but if you’re an out law attorney you probably do. Okay, this is the way Medicaid handled it pre deficit reduction act of two thousand and seven. Okay, so the penalty may run out. So just a thirty seconds left. Tricky issues that we see with financial all ability is and this is not just giving stuff away. Okay, how do you provide for the spouse? Is Expense at home, because they look at the entire income and wealth of the household, not just the applicant. You have to decide whether giveaway assets, whether it makes sense. What are you going to do? But eligibility, how much do you need be a money and the time period that you we penalized? Trying to get your income within the target amount. If because your expense is while predictable until you start incurring them, you you’re guessing and they’re up as healthcare needs or maybe they go down because you got better or new technology or lower cost provider or something. Okay, and the trickiest issue of all is getting va pension and not screwing up your eligibility from medicage for long term care, should you need that in the fuse. Absolutely, absolutely, very good. I have reached the end of what we’re going to talk about now. At some point in the future will talk about compensation, also known as disability, but for pension. I think we’re done well. You know what, Jim, I’m very, very pleased that you’ve spent the time with us today and I have learned a whole bunch and I hope that each and every one of you that have listened to this presentation do so too, and we’re going to come back with more information on veterans benefits, because I think this is a really, really important issue. And so until then for everyone, we are recording this on on a Friday, the eighteen and and we have president stays coming up, and so it is a big day for our country and I hope everyone out there has a great threeday weekend. Although this the probably won’t see this till afterwards. I hope you add a great threeday weekend. So, Jim, thanks for being with us, thanks to use Anne and to all of you. Remember what I always say, be good to each other. State of Ohio residents, you have a friend to help you navigate long term care while protecting your assets. You can reach Jim at wwwing Seniorscom or just email him at j Koewler afe. That’s j Taylor AFE at Protecting Seniorscom