Medicaid health benefits & inheritance question

[Joisey]

Jurisdiction

New Jersey

I'm currently receiving income-based Medicaid health benefits (61 y.o.) Recently, I've received a small inheritance (~$12k) from my dad's life insurance policies which are not yet deposited.

My concern is that I'll go over the $2k bank account threshold disqualifying me for Medicaid health benefits.

Is an inheritance like this treated differently than income? If not, can I just drop from the Medicaid rolls, deposit the checks, spend the money and re-enroll next year?

Please advise, as I don't want to make any missteps with this.

Thank you!

 

[Tax Counsel]

Basically what happens if you have more assets than are allowed to qualify for Medicaid is that Medicaid will deny benefits for a period of time such that the benefits you don't get make up for the extra assets. An inheritance is not income, but it is an asset that will count when determining benefits. You may want to ask the Medicaid office a question about how an inheritance should be handled if you get one (you don't have to voluntarily cough up the information on the inheritance at that stage) and see if you will get an answer.

 

[army judge]

Please advise, as I don't want to make any missteps with this.

Thank you

No one participating on this site as a volunteer responder can make you any guarantee.

However, you can seek pro bono legal assistance, hire an attorney to provide you a written legal lopinion with directions as to how you proceed.

You are also free to contact the applicable Medicaid officials who are now serving you.

Department of Human Services | NJ FamilyCare/Medicaid

 

[Joisey]

Basically what happens if you have more assets than are allowed to qualify for Medicaid is that Medicaid will deny benefits for a period of time such that the benefits you don't get make up for the extra assets. An inheritance is not income, but it is an asset that will count when determining benefits. You may want to ask the Medicaid office a question about how an inheritance should be handled if you get one (you don't have to voluntarily cough up the information on the inheritance at that stage) and see if you will get an answer.

Thanks so much for the info, will definitely touch base with the Medicaid.

 

[Joisey]

No one participating on this site as a volunteer responder can make you any guarantee.

However, you can seek pro bono legal assistance, hire an attorney to provide you a written legal lopinion with directions as to how you proceed.

You are also free to contact the applicable Medicaid officials who are now serving you.

Department of Human Services | NJ FamilyCare/Medicaid

Been getting the run around with legal aid (was trying to avoid paying out of pocket). Medicaid should have a definitive answer.