irrevocable trusts

[ken32894]

will an irrevocable trust really exempt the trust funds from medicaid (after the 5 year look back)? can it be done with a dometic trust or is an offshore trust required? how foolproof is this method? could the laws be changed later to negate this (if true)? would there be medicaid penalties if medicaid was needed before the 5 yr look back period (due to the transferance of funds into the trust)?