No, it won't effect Medicaid for them but you will be responsible for the debt. It will effect your credit if you don't make the payments on time or skip payments. I wouldn't do it. The best thing my Mom did when Dad died was to get rid of her credit cards. If she couldn't pay cash, she didn't buy it.
Please don;t.. once they start watching shopping shows you are screwed One of my DDs exboyfriends grandmother got hooked on QVC. When they cleaned out her house they found tons of stuff, not even opened. She was bored and shopped all day. We got tons of jewelery and designer purses,, they could not return them . Nice for us and their friends but not so nice for the bills. She could luckily afford them all, and the estate did, but really she had no idea what she was doing. If this had been on his parents they would have been truely hurting. You need to think ahead here
Adding an authorized to a credit card does not affect your credit limit and does not make them liable for the debt. They get to use the credit and only you still have the debt. It does not affect Medicaid eligibility. Don't overthink this one folks.
If you are joint on a credit card with your parents and he/she develops dementia and starts racking up debt on the card...you are responsible for that debt (as well as they) and it trashes your credit rating. Demented elders rack up debt all the time (just search for the posts on this forum). Please don't do this...it's not a good idea at all for any reason.
Can you tell us a bit more about why you would be doing this, what sort of purchases your parent would be making, how they would pay for these purchases? Because it matters. For instance: Your Dad is on your card, let us say, and he buys a new car for 30,000.00. Then he writes you a check for 200.00 a month to pay for this car. This would not be a good thing. It could look as though your Dad is gifting you 200.00 a month. So in an instance like that you would need to see an elder law attorney and get a good contract written. So much depends on the use of this. Your Dad being on this card and buying a six pack of ensure, then reimbursing you by cash or check would not be questioned; large sums WOULD be. And it could end in a mess. As with all questions that have to do with insurance, with IRS and legalities you should pass the question by either medicare itself (1-800-medicare and have a good book as you will be on line waiting a LONG time.) or run it by an elder care attorney. Good luck. And by the by, this is not something I would do. If your parent has a "wish list" say, on Amazon, or some such, you can easily make the purchase and have it delivered to your parent. If your parent has no card, there may be a reason they do not? I would just handle this on my own. A call to arrange a store account with your local grocer can work well for food delivery.
9 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
ADVERTISEMENT
It may confuse the debts and assets for Medicaid if they are on one of your accounts.
So much depends on the use of this. Your Dad being on this card and buying a six pack of ensure, then reimbursing you by cash or check would not be questioned; large sums WOULD be. And it could end in a mess. As with all questions that have to do with insurance, with IRS and legalities you should pass the question by either medicare itself (1-800-medicare and have a good book as you will be on line waiting a LONG time.) or run it by an elder care attorney.
Good luck.
And by the by, this is not something I would do. If your parent has a "wish list" say, on Amazon, or some such, you can easily make the purchase and have it delivered to your parent. If your parent has no card, there may be a reason they do not? I would just handle this on my own. A call to arrange a store account with your local grocer can work well for food delivery.