Many times individuals are confused about the Medicaid transfer rules. When individuals are preparing to apply for Medicaid for long term care coverage, they assume that they can transfer assets to their family or to a Trust without penalty. Or they assume that a penalty will only apply if they transfer more than $15,000 in value. These rules are the IRS rules for taxation and do not apply to Medicaid.

Under Medicaid rules any transfer for less than market value is subject to potential penalty. The penalty imposed will be a time penalty. This means that if an individual gifts an asset such as a car or an account to a family member then they will be denied coverage under Medicaid for a period of time because of that transfer. Regardless of the reason for the transfer (birthday, Christmas, charity, etc), any transfer for less than market value is subject to penalty.

The next video will discuss how Medicaid will look to find these transfers.