Shannon Pawley, The Estate & Asset Protection Law Firm Owner, explains the reality about Medicare long-term healthcare explaining that while it’s not free for most people, it can be affordable for most.

DECATUR, GA, November ••, 2023: Shannon Pawley, Owner of The Estate & Asset Protection Law Firm, has posted a new blog on the law firm’s website entitled “Myth: Long-term Health Care Is Free Through Medicaid.” Ms. Pawley explains how Medicaid recipients are responsible for cost-sharing and gives examples of how it works.

Pawley states, “If you believe long-term health care through Medicaid care is free once approved for Medicaid, you’re not alone. Many people believe the myth as stated above, but apart from a handful of cases it simply isn’t true. In fact,” Pawley notes, “most applicants for Medicaid long-term care are responsible for what is commonly referred to as cost-sharing. Otherwise known as Medicaid Patient Liability or resident liability, the term refers to the amount a Medicaid recipient must pay toward the cost of nursing home care, long-term home care and/or other community-based services. In other words,” she writes, “cost-sharing is the monthly amount that a Medicaid beneficiary must pay from his / her income before Medicaid will cover the remainder of the costs.

Pawley goes on the explain, “The 2023 income limit for nursing home Medicaid is $2,742 monthly. At that amount, Medicaid beneficiaries would be required to use almost all their monthly income to pay for the cost of their nursing home care. Each state has their own income levels based on whether there is a spouse at home, and which Medicaid also allows for a small personal needs’ deduction, roughly $50 to $200 a month, again based on the resident’s state.”

Pawley then provides an example. “Ed is a nursing home Medicaid beneficiary with a monthly income of $2,000. The state in which he resides allows a $75 / month personal needs allowance and he has a healthy spouse living at home who is entitled to a $1,000 / month spousal income allowance. Therefore, his total allowable deductions are $1,075 / month. When these deductions are subtracted from his monthly income, it leaves him with a monthly cost share or patient liability of $925 / month. ($2,000 in income minus $1,075 in deductions = $925 patient liability).”

The entire blog can be read by CLICKING HERE

About The Estate & Asset Protection Law Firm

The Estate & Asset Protection Law Firm was established to serve the legal needs of retiring citizens. The Firm focuses its entire practice on providing strategies to protect independence, privacy, assets and taxes from the government. Shannon Pawley has grown her law practice by providing excellent customer satisfaction with personalized wealth protection plans.

About Shannon M. Pawley, J.D., LL.M

As the owner of The Estate & Asset Protection Law Firm, Shannon M. Pawley and her entire team share a passion which focuses on being able to serve the legal needs of retiring individuals. In our firm, WE BELIEVE that people should not have to lose everything they’ve worked a lifetime to earn and that every person is an individual who deserves respect and the highest quality of life possible, regardless of age or ability. We also believe that privacy and protection are the keys to personal peace. Born and raised in the Tidewater area of Virginia to a tightknit family with strong military service roots, Shannon learned from an early age the value of hard work and the importance of social awareness to ensure you always leave a situation in a better place than how you entered it. In her junior year of high school, Shannon served as U.S. House of Representatives Page during the 101st United States Congressional Session in Washington, D.C. This experience exposed her to numerous new cultures and worldly issues. Walking away from her experience as a U.S. House of Representative Page, Shannon knew that she wanted to pursue legal studies and be able to assist others in obtaining the best results available in difficult situations.

Shannon earned her undergraduate degree at North Carolina Wesleyan College and pursued a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law. After obtaining her law degree and becoming a licensed attorney in Michigan, she continued her educational pursuit by acquiring a LL.M. (Master of Law) in Taxation from Wayne State University. After moving to Georgia in 2018, Shannon obtained her Georgia law license and has enjoyed being able to pursue her desire of ensuring persons are able to age with dignity, grace and independence.