Lions Club to host fundraiser
On Thursday, the Linden Lions Club held its weekly meeting. There were many announcements made by members. The Lions Club is having a raffle fundraiser for chances to win a beautiful blanket.
Tickets are being sold at City Hall and proceeds will go to the Lions Club Scholarship. Winner will be announced on December 6th at the Chicken Pot Stew.
This week, as part of the guest speakers they bring in, they welcomed Brenda Hellie, who is a Medicaid consultant. She spoke to the Lions Club about the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, or MERP, and the importance of planning ahead in case you or a loved one are affected by this little known program.
MERP is a program that allows the state of Texas to recover money spent on long term care for those on Medicaid after they pass away from their estate.
So if you or a loved one need long term care such as being placed in a nursing home or even if you receive in-home health care and this care is paid for by Medicaid, MERP could possibly be applied to you or your loved one’s estate.
Most commonly this applies to any property that was owned by a person at the time of their passing. This is because property is typically what goes into probate court.
According to Wendy Whiteman, a lawyer from Dallas who specializes in elder law, when an estate goes into probate, it is tagged for MERP if the person received long term care through Medicaid.
There are other assets that can be taken by MERP. One of the important things brought out in the meeting included the startling fact that things such as life insurance policies and even savings or checking accounts can be subject to Medicaid’s recovery program.
Fighting Medicaid in court over their attempt at estate recovery can be a long and oftentimes very difficult process.
Getting educated on how to avoid these potential problems is to avoid having things like that happen.
According to both Brenda Hellie and Wendy Whiteman, the easiest way to get around possibly losing property and money to to medicaid is to get a ladybird deed.
Also known as an enhanced life estate deed, this deed gives the owner of a property continued control over the property during their lifetime.
After their passing, under this deed, the property is then transferred to the original owner’s selected person automatically. By having a ladybird deed you cut out the need for probate court issuing the property after the passing of a loved one.
The real key to protecting you and your loved ones against the estate recovery program is estate planning.
By planning ahead, families can avoid having to deal with the added pressure of the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program during what is already a difficult time.