How to Protect Your Family's Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs: Medicaid Secrets (2nd Edition). (Paperback)

by K. Gabriel Heiser (Author)
Key Phrases: community spouse, nursing home spouse, penalty divisor, Social Security, Fair Hearing, Excess Shelter Allowance (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"If you have been waiting for someone to sort through the new Medicaid law and publish an up-to-date resource, Heiser has done it for you in Medicaid Secrets."

"Medicaid Secrets does an outstanding job of pointing out the issues and concerns important to clients who are or should be concerned about Medicaid eligibility.

Medicaid Secrets contains a thorough Table of Contents and a comprehensive Index that readers can use to easily find specific topics. It also provides numerous examples that prove invaluable in explaining the concepts under discussion. In fact, the real-world examples, and their direct connection of Medicaid policies and concepts to real-life situations, provide the true value of the book and set it apart from other published articles on Medicaid.

An additional fact sets this book apart from other published works: Medicaid Secrets is absolutely current. It includes the major changes in federal Medicaid law brought about by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, enacted February 8, 2006, and the later amendments enacted on December 20, 2006." -- The Colorado Lawyer (official publication of the Colorado Bar Association), April 2007

"Well written, clear, easy to follow, and well organized..."

"I have read your book and it is great! It is a perfect quick tour of Medicaid planning...

I highly recommend it to anyone who needs to get quickly up to speed when the need arises because a friend or family member is facing nursing home expenses...or who wants to think ahead to that possible need.

Lawyers can give it to clients to help them understand "the rules." Advisors don't need to fear this book will turn their paying clients into do-it-yourselfers, because almost every rule contains state-specific variations and this book does not cover those. So for clients and would-be clients, this book shows why they need the help of a pro.

I especially appreciate the clear delineation between the forbidden and the permitted. It's well written, clear, easy to follow, and well organized. I found it very useful when helping a friend who has just entered a nursing home." -- Natalie B. Choate, nationally recognized attorney and America's leading speaker on retirement planning; author of Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits

Product Description
Written by an elder law attorney with over 24 years' experience, this book will help anyone with a family member faced with a long-term stay in a nursing home who wishes to preserve at least some of their assets by qualifying for the Medicaid program. You don't have to be broke to qualify! For the first time ever, the inside secrets of high-priced estate planning and elder law attorneys are revealed. Includes a summary of all income and asset rules for both married and single individuals, together with numerous examples and several case studies, which take the reader through the same thought processes that an experienced elder law attorney would go through when analyzing a real-life client's situation. The book includes tips on: how to title your home so you do not lose it to the state; how to make transfers to family members that won't disqualify you from Medicaid; how annuities make assets "disappear"; smart tricks for "spending down" your assets; what to change in your will to save thousands of dollars if your spouse ever needs nursing home care; avoiding the state's reimbursement claim following the nursing home resident's death; and much more.

2008 Edition has been expanded, revised, and completely updated to incorporate all changes in the law as of January 1, 2008.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Phylius Press; 2nd edition (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979080134
• ISBN-13: 978-0979080135
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #116,378 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #6 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Administration & Medicine Economics > Medicaid & Medicare
  #8 in	Books > Science > Medicine > Administration & Policy > Medicaid & Medicare
  #19 in	Books > Science > Medicine > Nursing > Nursing Home Care

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable reference guide, April 25, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Protect Your Family's Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs: Medicaid Secrets (Paperback)

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (4/07)

The question of how to protect your family assets is timely. It is an important consideration faced by the majority of American citizens. As a result of longer life expectancy, rising medical costs, and complicated governmental programs, more and more people are forced to spend all their money before they ever qualify to take advantage of Medicaid benefits. Heiser's book is a godsend as it guides the reader through the complex issues relating to Medicaid benefits, qualifications, and application strategies.

This amazing guidebook will help you discover the secrets of protecting your family assets in ways that will not disqualify you from Medicaid benefits. The contents include a comprehensive working definition of Medicaid, what is provided, and how to apply for the program. Medical and income qualifications are covered in detail. Strategies for transferring assets, setting up trusts, and planning annuities are all addressed.

I personally found the Case Studies to be helpful. These examples gave several possible scenarios which offered me ideas for integrating these applications to planning an approach to finding solutions in my own life situation.

The appendix contains important information on a Durable Power of Attorney, as well as valuable suggestions on obtaining a qualified attorney. A glossary, important statistical tables, some applicable federal laws, a list of resources and agencies available, and Medicaid questionnaires, all make this a valuable resource and reference guide.

J. Gabriel Heiser, an attorney, with over 23-years experience in the field of elder law and estate planning is well-qualified to author this book.

This is an important guide for retirement planning and for anyone with a family member in, or approaching, a long-term-care situation. It can also become a valuable resource and reference guide for professional financial and estate planners, attorneys, for people in the medical profession, social workers, and ministers.

I found the book to be crucial, timely, and important. "How to Protect Your Family's Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs: Medicaid Secrets" is a book that should be read by every American tax payer as well as by every recipient and future recipient of Medicaid benefits.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Review by Michael Sabbeth, Esq. , April 17, 2007

By	Michael G. Sabbeth "ethwriter" (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How to Protect Your Family's Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs: Medicaid Secrets (Paperback)

Book Review
How to Protect Your Family's Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs: Medicaid Secrets
By Gabriel Heiser, Esq.

Medicaid is a vast federal bureaucratic healthcare system that operates on the federal, state and local levels. The federal government delegates considerable rule making authority and discretion to the individual states, which, in turn, delegate to individual counties their own regulation-making power. Added to this percolating brew is the reality that individual nursing homes make their own rules and policies for dealing with Medicaid recipients.
Thus, legal practitioners, government officials and inquiring citizens are confronted with a regulation-intensive field of law and public health so labyrinthine that even Daedalus and Icarus would have to put attorneys on retainer to help them navigate through it.
Gabriel Heiser is an attorney in Boulder, Colorado, specializing in Medicaid qualification matters as a sub-set of his practice in elder law. He has written How to Protect Your Family's Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs: Medicaid Secrets, a straight-forward concise volume that clarifies and simplifies the processes of analyzing Medicaid qualification and payment issues and crafting strategies for dealing with them in a cost-effective way in real-life situations.
The book has a Table of Contents that is logically organized and indicates that the major components of the topic are thoroughly addressed. The Index illustrates the excellent organization of the book and makes it easy to reference back to specific concepts within the text.
One aspect that I liked particularly was Heiser's detailed references in the text to material previously covered. Instead of writing something generic such as, `as stated earlier' or `as I previously covered,' Heiser gives specific page numbers and topic headings. The book is, thus, highly user friendly for the lay person as well as for the knowledgeable practitioner.
The book also provides Medicaid contacts for each state; a list of resources and citations to relevant federal statutes. I found both refreshing and admirable Heiser's direct forthright addressing of the ethical dimension of a lawyer giving advice intended to reduce the financial burden imposed on an individual or on a family when qualifying for and receiving Medicaid benefits.
Anticipating critics, Heiser gives examples where profligacy and irresponsible behavior have been financially rewarded and where thrift and self-sacrifice have been punished. He ends the topic with a trenchant quote from Justice Learned Hand: "Anyone may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury."
Heiser's book builds on the overall topic incrementally from basic concepts--what is Medicaid?--to rather sophisticated arcane aspects of Medicaid law. Heiser displays the enviable skill of breaking down into understandable segments esoteric concepts that do not trip easily off the tongue such as the Community Spouse Resource Allowance, irrevocable trusts, minimum monthly maintenance needs allowances and penalty dates.
Upon completing the book, the reader will not be sufficiently trained to walk into federal court and litigate a case, of course, but the reader will have a comprehensive grasp of the issues to guide future financial decisions and to ask more probing questions of legal counsel. As a disclaimer, Heiser emphasizes that obtaining the advice of an experienced elder law attorney in the client's home state is essential to successful Medicaid planning.
I end this review with two judgments. First, the book is not about Medicaid `secrets.' Rather, it is about the analysis and deductions made and implications offered by a skilled lawyer trying to make accessible the rules and laws imposed on a massive bureaucracy. If in this day and age the effort to describe the law to average citizens constitutes secrets, then there is much to lament. Second, the book does not show how to protect all assets from nursing home costs. It shows how to protect some assets and how to distribute some of those assets to family and recipients other than to the layers of government.
The book is easy to read. It is free of mind-numbing jargon and arrogant intellectual self-indulgence. It is meant to be a foundational primer to help people keep some of their assets should life's tempests require access to Medicaid nursing home benefits. It successfully achieves that goal.

Book reviewed by
Michael G. Sabbeth, Esq.
Denver, Colorado

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The maze of Medicaid options and strategies explained., February 28, 2007

By	Bret A. Elliott (Lafayette, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How to Protect Your Family's Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs: Medicaid Secrets (Paperback)

As a Certified Financial Planner professional, I deal with issues such as these with my older clients from time to time. But I don't give legal advice. I am not a legal expert. Mr. Heiser clearly is.

I found this book to be a "must read." In fact, I read it twice to learn anything that I might have missed the first time. I now keep the book at my desk, as it has important state agency contacts, IRS tables, case studies, and reference information.

Mr. Heiser reveals the maze of complicated features and structures of the Medicaid system, and then presents, in a straightforward and organized fashion, the many important questions to ask before undertaking any action.

After reading this book, you will be armed with knowledge of the various strategies and options that could that could greatly benefit (or inadvertantly harm) your loved ones' finances and Medicaid eligibility. This kind of knowledge is extremely powerful. The Medicaid system is fragmented and subject to ever-changing rules and local regulations. What works for one person in one state may not benefit another person elsewhere. Mr. Heiser has done readers a great favor in carefully explaining all of the potential issues.