Not consulting with an attorney due primarily to the cost. The truth is, legal help is a lot less expensive than paying for care privately. In Washington, nursing homes generally charge more than $10,000 a month. At stake can be a lifetime of hard work, savings, and financial burden on your loved ones. Undoubtedly, the savings far outweigh legal costs.
Assuming that your application process will be quick and easy: Certainly, public benefits should be available to those who qualify without having to resort to hiring an attorney. Unfortunately, this aspiration and the reality of the Medicaid rules are far apart. The eligibility requirements are provided in a complicated set of state and federal laws, regulations, bulletins, and practice manuals that make it difficult even for attorneys to fathom unless they specialize in the field. A lot is at stake and, given the cost of long term care, a consultation with a Medicaid attorney can save a lot of long term care costs and unnecessary delays.
Relying on advice and assistance of biased and unqualified individuals: Yes, some nursing home provides application assistance at no charge. Some financial advisors selling annuities and burial policies also provide assistance for a reduced fee. However, we have seen countless examples of incomplete or improper advice leading to irreparable harm or lost opportunities for our clients. Employees or affiliates of hospitals, nursing homes and care facilities are primarily concerned about their financial gain, not their residents. Likewise, those who sell financial products are not completely free from their financial interests in the eligibility planning process. In addition, to the extent the application raises legal issues (and it often does), it makes sense to have an elder law attorney prepare the application and advocate for you in the process. This would be the case, for instance, if a trust were involved or if you were seeking an exception to the usual penalties for transferring assets.
Assuming that you are too well off to qualify for Medicaid: No one would argue that when Medicaid was created that it was meant to be the main system of paying for long-term care for older Americans in financial need. However, due to lack of any other program, Medicaid has become the nation’s long-term care financing system by default. Except the very healthy, most people needing long term care will deplete their life savings and face impoverishment. Medicaid rules protect many seniors who would have been otherwise financially secure but for the high costs of long term care. Consulting with an attorney enables seniors and their families to understand Medicaid rules and options available to them other than simply going broke.

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