Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C.: Can Life Insurance Affect Your Medicaid Eligibility? (June 14, 2021)

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. has made available for download their article, “Can Life Insurance Affect Your Medicaid Eligibility?”, published in JDSUPRA. The abstract is as follows:

When applying for Medicaid many people often forget about life insurance. But depending on the type of life insurance and the value of the policy, it can count as an asset.

In order to qualify for Medicaid, you can’t have more than $2,000 in assets (in most states). Life insurance policies are usually either “term” life insurance or “whole” life insurance. If a Medicaid applicant has term life insurance, it doesn’t count as an asset and won’t affect Medicaid eligibility because this form of life insurance does not have an accumulated cash value. On the other hand, whole life insurance accumulates a cash value that the owner can access, so it can be counted as an asset.

Click here to view Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C.’s summary of “Can Life Insurance Affect Your Medicaid Eligibility?”

Posted by Marin Larkin, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.