GAO’s review of 294 approved Medicaid nursing home applications in three states showed that 41 percent of applicants had total resources—both countable and not countable as part of financial eligibility determination—of $2,500 or less and 14 percent had over $100,000 in total resources.
Medicaid paid for nearly one-third of the nation’s $158 billion in nursing home expenditures in 2012. To be financially eligible for Medicaid, individuals cannot have assets above certain limits. Not all assets are countable in determining Medicaid eligibility; federal law discourages individuals from reducing their countable assets, for example by transferring them to family members, to qualify for Medicaid. Although Congress has acted multiple times to address financial eligibility requirements for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care, methods exist through which individuals, sometimes with the help of attorneys, can reduce their assets and qualify for Medicaid.
GAO was asked for information on the extent to which individuals may be using available methods to qualify for Medicaid coverage. GAO (1) examined financial characteristics of applicants approved for Medicaid nursing home coverage in selected states; (2) identified methods used to reduce countable assets to qualify for Medicaid; and (3) identified information eligibility workers consider the most useful in assessing applicants’ financial eligibility. GAO analyzed a random, but nongeneralizeable, sample of Medicaid nursing home applications in two counties in each of three states (Florida, New York, and South Carolina), selected based on several factors including states’ asset verification efforts and demographics. GAO also interviewed officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, state Medicaid officials, county-based Medicaid eligibility workers, and attorneys.
– Florida Chain