A Medicaid professional consultant helping an elderly woman to protect her assets and money from the nursing home spend down.

Medicaid snapshot date

When does the Medicaid Ineligibility Period Begin? What is the snapshot date?

Knowing when the Medicaid ineligibility period begins is one of the most important parts of planning for Medicaid. This period is known as the Medicaid Snapshot Date. It begins on the day that the application for Medicaid is filed and the application process begins. However, there is one variance. In most cases the snapshot date or the start of the Medicaid ineligibility period will be on the date of application, but it can also be on the date that the applicant entered into a nursing home or institution. For example, if a patient is in the hospital for an extended period of time before being moved to a nursing home, the date of the admittance into the hospital would be the snapshot date.

There are many reasons why the Medicaid snapshot date is important. Mainly, its importance is because this is the date that the representatives from Medicaid will look at assets that are owned by the patient. The term snapshot date actually stems from the date being the day that a picture of all assets is taken. The countable assets are then considered and an allocation is done accordingly.

Understanding Medicaid's ineligibility period and Medicaid's snapshot date

When it comes to understanding the rules for Medicaid eligibility and Medicaid's snapshot date, there are three main points that should be remembered. These are the 60 month look-back rule, the period of Medicaid ineligibility rule and the Medicaid Snapshot Rule. All of these rules revolve around the countable assets that the patient who is applying for Medicaid benefits owns. These assets play a very important role in the receipt of benefits from Medicaid. Unfortunately, if a patient has too many assets and they have not planned to protect these assets years ahead of time, they will be in a position where they will have to spend down their assets to meet certain guidelines. This is also the case for current income. If a patient generates too much income, they will be forced to pay for their own nursing home care out of pocket. While some people believe they can afford this because they have so many assets, the savings account can be diminished faster than thought. Nursing care is very expensive, and depending on what services are needed by the patient, the cost of care could easily eat up a life savings.

Being prepared and planning for Medicaid is one way to avoid losing assets and knowing your Medicaid snapshot date is important. No one knows when they will need to be in a nursing facility, nor do they know at what age this could happen. The best thing to do is plan and plan as far ahead as possible. The rules associated with Medicaid eligibility are very strict. Please contact us for more information on the Medicaid ineligibility period, Medicaid's snapshot date and other Medicaid spend down questions.