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Carolsgirl Asked January 2019

Confirming that my mother can be claimed as a dependent when she is in a nursing home where Medicaid is picking up a portion of her care?

Can the remainder of the expenses we pay, be claimed on my taxes? I'm in Texas.

JoAnn29 Jan 2019
I am with Tacy, what 2000. Medicaid is based on what the person has in assets. You spend down what assets they have for their care to the amount allowed, which is 2k in my state. So all you have left is your SS and maybe a pension. Those are turned over to the NH and Medicaid pays the balance. Family members are not required to pay anything towards the LOs care. Now what Medicaid pays and what a private pay person would pay is not the same. But the NH has to except what Medicaid pays them. If Mom has no money, she can't pay it.

As Igloo says, if Mom is over the maximum income Medicaid allows, lets say they allow 2100 with SS and pension but Mom brings in 2200. As igloo said, a Miller trust can be set up and the 100 goes into that each month. Upon death, the trust reverts back to Medicaid.

Are you paying 2000 out of your own pocket? If so, I would think this effects your income not Moms. Is this a penalty because of a large amount of money going out of Moms account within the 5 yr lookback?
Really, there is a reason why u are paying this. My Mom still owned a home, but had no money and I paid nothing out of my pocket for her care.

Talk to your tax preparer. Mine has a CPA who knows the in and outs. Me, if its coming out of your income you put it on your taxes.

I would also check out if Mom needs to file income taxes. My Mom and MIL both received letters from IRS stating they no longer needed to pay income taxes. Because, the majority of their income was SS. The pensions they received only amounted to 2400 and 4800 a year that was considered income. They fell far below income level needed to pay taxes on SS.

igloo572 Jan 2019
Carol, so you’re wanting to claim dependency for last year (2018) when she was still living with you &/or you were laying her care costs? Look at Tacys answer as to how to determine if the criteria met. Also you might want to use a tax pro as the new tax system seems daunting.

I too am confused, if she is on LTC Medicaid my understanding is that all her monthly income becomes her copay or SOC (share of cost) to the NH less the $60 TX personal needs allowance. Is it that her monthly income is over TX limit (I think it’s $2150 a mo now), and it’s over by 2k? Is that it? If so, for her to have gotten onto LTC Medicaid my understanding is that she would have need to have set up a Miller Trust to get paid whatever sources of income easiest to place into a Miller to get her income under the $2150. Sometimes if they have a income that’s “squishy”, like it’s something that is not a “fully guaranteed retirement resource” like some business or smaller corporate pension, it can’t go into a Miller, cause it fluctuates as to what you’ll get paid based on corporate earnings. This is unlike SS or federal civil service annuitant pensions which are set in stone and you know to the penny what next years $ will be paid. So for these situations, the SS & fed $ go into the Miller - and take her under the $2150 max - which in turn pays the NH from the Miller, but the other squishy retirement $ gets paid to the NH as well but amount fluctuates. If she’s doing a Miller, the atty should have clearly explained how this has to work for Medicaids strict rules.

perchance is part of her $ RRRB?

Once she moved onto Medicaid and into a Medicaid bed in a NH she’s totally out of being claimed as a dependent. So anything personal you buy for her is done out of a sense of familial duty. Remember she does get that $6O a mo personal needs allowance. If NH is getting her SS$ and putting the PNA into a Trust account for her (like to pay the on site beauty shoppe), you do want to make sure it and any other bank accounts she has combined never ever exceeds 2k.

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JoAnn29 Jan 2019
If she is on Medicaid you cannot claim her as a dependent and I doubt if she is required to pay income tax when all she receives is SS.

Just curious, what expenses are you paying? Keeping up a house?
worriedinCali Jan 2019
The OP never said her mother only receives SS.
worriedinCali Jan 2019
You can’t claim her as a dependent because she isnt your dependent, she doesn’t live with you. You may be able to deduct the expenses depending on her income and whether or not she has to file a tax return. Your tax accountant should be able to tell you what you can deduct.
worriedinCali Jan 2019
*clarification-when you file your taxes, you may be able to deduct some of her expenses that you are personally paying for. But you cannot claim her as a dependent.

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