If you are worried about what will happen when you become incapacitated, you need to think about having a Medicaid power of attorney. Planning for Medicaid and naming someone as your agent by creating a power of attorney are two of the most important things that you can do. If something happens to you and you cannot speak up for yourself or make your own decisions about your assets being managed or about your healthcare, your power of attorney should be the person who acts as your voice.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. has extensive experience with powers of attorney and with Medicaid coverage. We provide assistance in making sure you can qualify for Medicaid when you need to. We also help you to determine if you should have a power of attorney and we help you to understand when and how to create a power of attorney to give your agent authority. To learn more about a Medicaid power of attorney, give us a call today.

Creating a Medicaid Power of Attorney

When you create a power of attorney, it is your choice what kind(s) of authority you would like to give to the person who you name as your agent. Your agent can be put in charge of only a limited transaction, but this is not very useful for estate planning purposes. Instead, most people creating a power of attorney to protect them in case of incapacity will create a general power of attorney.

A general power of attorney means an agent has broad authority to buy and sell property, pay bills, manage money in accounts, and address other financial issues. While creating a power of attorney, people typically also name the same agent or a different agent as a health care proxy. When creating a health care proxy and naming someone to make medical choices on your behalf, you need to consult with your agent about your wishes well in advance to ensure you only get the kinds of medical care you want. You can also create advanced directives such as a living will to make clear what kinds of treatment are appropriate.

If you have created a general power of attorney and/or a health care proxy, your agent can interact with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on your behalf. Your agent can take the steps of applying for Medicaid for you so you can try to secure benefits to cover the costs of nursing home care and other medical treatments that you may require when you are incapacitated.

If you are not able to try to qualify for Medicaid on your own, having your agent provide this type of help can be invaluable because Medicaid may be able to pick up many costs which would not otherwise be covered. Without Medicaid, for example, most people would end up having to pay for nursing home care out-of-pocket because private insurers and Medicare don’t usually pay for care in a nursing home setting unless it is skilled medical care for a limited time only.

An agent who has been given authority through power of attorney can also work to protect your assets and to make sure that you have the money needed to pay for essential medical care. There are Medicaid planning options, including the creation of a trust, that will allow you to ensure assets you own do not count as resources that could disqualify you from getting Medicaid coverage. An attorney can help an agent to explore whether there are Medicaid planning options available to help protect some of the assets of a person who is incapacitated and trying to get Medicaid to cover costs.

Finally, if you need healthcare services, your health care proxy will make decisions regarding what kinds of care you want if you cannot make these decisions. Medicaid should cover the care you receive, provided you have Medicaid for your insurer and the care provider accepts Medicaid as a form of payment.

Getting Help With Medicaid Power of Attorney

If you want to understand more about a Medicaid power of attorney, about Medicaid planning, or about making advanced plans for healthcare, you should get legal help as soon as possible from an experienced professional. The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. can provide invaluable assistance with the Medicaid planning process and with the creation of a legally valid power of attorney that provides you with the protection you need in case of incapacity.

Give our Rochester and Finger Lakes Medicaid power of attorney lawyers a call today at (585) 546-1734 or contact us online to learn more.