Continued Medicaid eligibility. What can I spend down my monthly income on to bring my cash balance down to 2000 or less? Can I give nieces and nephew birthday presents and if so how much? Can I buy a tombstone for my plot in the cemetery? If so how much? I live very frugally and do not have many expenses..rent, food, transportation are my main expenses but do not consume all of my monthly income. Thank you for any and all replies.
You can buy anything you need to stay in your home. Your car, car repairs/maint, the tombstone should be ok and put it on a payment plan so you have X dollars coming out of your income each month to help stay under the $2K. Do you need any equipment, a new recliner with a lift (again, do payment plan to help lower income each month), a new mattress/adjustable bed, etc.
As said Medicaid looks for any large amounts.
Use your money for facility rents until you are spent down.
Do you need dental work, even just more frequent cleanings? An extra pair of glasses? Prescription sunglasses? A new winter coat? Better boots? A couple of new shirts? Some kitchen gadgets that will make cooking easier?
this is done so that seniors with real amounts of money are forced to use it to pay their for own care before Medicaid. Every so often someone comes here looking for help on how to hide money and assets from Medicaid.
in the case of just the typical small gifts from grandma...sadly that is caught up in this too. But, the rule is applied equally at least.
Best wishes to you.