My grandfather had given me money for me to move but he's in a nursing home now. Will that affect his Medicaid?

Ok Its more complicated than just a 1 time gifting of 10k to you.
If your mom added her dad / your grandpa as an owner to her home in 2014, then whatever % share of ownership he has in the property will be viewed as his asset by Medicaid. It doesn’t matter if she added his name in 2014 or last month. What matters is that his name is legally recorded as an owner and that matters to Medicaid.

This is going to be sticky and really whomever is his DPOA and your mom needs to speak with an elder law atty asap regarding his application and the property & how Medicaid will affect the property by its ability to place a lien or claim on the home.

Medicaid allows for him to continue own his homestead/home as an exempt asset but he will have no $ to pay any property costs as Medicaid requires almost all of his monthly income to be paid to the facility as the required copay or SOC (share of cost). And upon his death, the state is required to attempt a recovery of all costs paid by Medicaid. This is done through MERP. Did your mom realize this before you went and did a Medicaid application for him?

BUT if that property your mom owned and added him onto as an owner in 2014 is NOT his actual homestead, it could be looked at an a nonexempt asset by Medicaid. Medicaid doesn’t allow for nonexempt property so his share will have to be sold at FMV with the $ only used to pay for his care before he will be eligible for Medicaid.

I’ve got to ask..... why did your mom add his name onto her house??
Did he loan / buy a % of it so he paid her but wanted his name attached onto the place? His name on it is going to affect both him & her. Really its complicated. Plus the 10k he gifted you. I’m going to guess that if the state looks in detail into his bank accounts back to 2013 there’s going to be other checks, withdrawals that are totally sketch. You guys need an elder law atty like yesterday imho.

Plus you’ve already submitted his Medicaid application so the state can start a records search on grandpa & whatever his name & SS# get attached to. Really try to find an elder law attorney to discuss the situation ASAP, and let the atty shepherd the application and any appeals needed. It’s not a DIY at this point. Good luck.

Yes as Medicaid will redflag it as “gifting” with a transfer penalty placed on his application. I’d be concerned to IF there are other gifts lurking in his finances going back to the Summer of 2013. The 5 yr look back is a long l...o..n..g time. Realize any gifting within the 5 yrs can get a penalty placed and penalty period starts as of date of application & not when gifted.

How did did you find out that the 10k is a problem for Medicaid?
Like he told you? or his DPOA told you? Or you’ve read an article about this? or has he actually applied for Medicaid and there is a penalty inquiry open on him or actually a penalty on his eligibility?
To me, your answer will determine just how much of a immediate crisis this is. What is it?

Also transfer penalty is not exactly 10k out/10k in.
It’s more a division problem. Grandpas state will have a set $ rate that Medicaid pays for daily room & board reimbursement to NHs. That’s the divisor. The $ gifted is the dividend. And the quotient is the # of days penalty placed on his eligibility. That’s basically it, it’s a math problem.

Like if his states R&B is $175 a day, that’s a penalty of 57 days / almost 2 months of ineligibility that will have to be private paid at the NH for him to stay there & till Medicaid can have him eligible. But if his state pays way higher R&B (some states pay $300+), that means smaller # of transfer penalty days. $300 R&B is 34 days penalty. Grandpas state LTC Medicaid website should have $ amount of R&B reimbursement. Do the math to see what your facing.

In the world of LTC, 10k is a small, small amount as most charge 5k -15k PER MONTH. There are posters on this site whose elders have paid 18-20k a mo. I’m not making light of your situation, just a perspective on costs. If the penalty is there, it’s hard to contest; it was not a legit loan to you, your not his dependent child, not special needs (I assume) with $ going into a SNT or ABLE account.... things which might pass the Medicaid allowed transfer test. I’d suggest that the DpOA & you might try to negotiate to get the NH to accept the lower Medicaid payment rate for the # of days rather than the higher daily private pay rate. Also to me, unless there other eligibility issues, other gifting with his application, it’s probably not worth getting an elderlaw atty to deal with this as in my experience their costs tend to run at least 2500 to shepherd a basic application.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Hi, Dodge. I think you are certainly not alone in this situation of having accepted a generous gift toward getting yourself started in the world from your loving grandpa.... and then suddenly grandpa needs care and there is the prospect of a Medicaid look back. I had never heard of it until I became a caregiver and started visiting this forum.

I hope there is a way through this unexpected situation for you. Best wishes to you and your grandpa.

He will be subject to a penalty equal to the amount he gave you. That means that until he or someone pays out of pocket 10k that Medicaid will not pay that 10k. Makes one wonder how many other people he may have given money in the past five years.

Yes, unfortunately it will be considered a gift if you can’t repay it. It will affect the 5 year look back done by Medicaid.