Gifting

You have $50,000 and want to give to your grandchildren so that the State of AZ (ALTCS) can pay for your care. Why? Because you do not want the State to take it.

Well, the State does not take it but they do expect you to pay for some of your care and if you give away your money you will be penalized.  Meaning you will have to pay for your care until the penalty is over.

Example:
Assisted Living Home payment will be $3,000 a month; you gave away $50,000 which is divided by the private pay rate for Maricopa county ($6,726.48) equals about 8 months of penalty.

In this scenario the person would shelter about $30,000 from the $50,000.

In theory it sounds good but who will help pay the $3,000 while the penalty is in place?

Will those loving grandchildren that accepted the gift help?  The Assisted Living Home places people on ALTCS in shared rooms; are you willing to share a room with someone you do not know?

This might not even be doable if the person does not meet the medical portion of the eligibility process.

Making the right move

When a loved one needs placement and you are in the middle of an application for assistance from AZ Medicaid program/ALTCS you need to make sure the home you are moving to is an ALTCS approved home.

This means that the home or community is licensed by the State and is enrolled with a program contractor to provide the care.

Sometimes homes say they are approved but in reality they have applied with AHCCCS/ALTCS for approval and have not yet been provided with a provider number.

If you are working with a Placement service they should know if the home is already approved or is in the process.