The most respected elder law firm in southern Illinois can help you to afford a high quality nursing home for a loved one.

As we age, transitioning to a nursing home or assisted living center may be the best choice for our health, safety, comfort, and overall quality of life. However, finding the right nursing home in southern Illinois and then finding the funds to pay for that nursing home can prove to be complicated, confusing, and stressful.

In southern Illinois, quality nursing home care costs an average of $3,000 to $6,000 per month - which translates to a staggering $36,000 to $60,000 per year. Considering that the average household income for a family living in Carbondale, IL, is $34,601, it is clear that most people simply can't afford to pay for long-term quality elder care straight out of pocket for very long. Many families are faced with sobering options: selling family property, depleting savings, using inheritance money, or settling for sub-par care.

At Habiger & Associates, we specialize in creating unique, individualized long-term care plans for seniors living in Southern Illinois. We have decades of experience helping thousands of families find nursing home payment solutions that give peace of mind to all who are involved in the process. For most middle-class families, these solutions involve Medicaid.

What is Medicaid planning, and how can it help your family with elder care? 
Part of the Social Security Act, Title 19 Medicaid is a medical and health-related service run jointly on a federal and state level. Very simply, Medicaid helps those with limited resources pay for some or all of their medical requirements. If you or your loved one qualifies for Medicaid, you are legally entitled to benefits that could help you afford the elder care you or they need.

Why do I need a Medicaid planning attorney? 
As with many government programs, it can be difficult to receive Medicaid benefits even if you qualify for them.  Knowing the rules, requirements and unwritten policies of qualifying for Medicaid benefits - such as the difference between your exempt and non-exempt assets - is often difficult, and a mistake may lead to a rejection or a "spend-down" requirement.  More importantly, an experienced Medicaid planning attorney can help you with a number of strategies that can protect the financial security of your family while also preserving your eligibility for Medicaid benefits.

A Medicaid planning service also can do much more than simply secure Medicaid funds. At Habiger & Associates, our elder law attorneys can assist you and your family with the entire spectrum of your elder care planning, from finding the proper care, to exploring benefit options, to paying for care, to checking up on the wellbeing of you or your loved one in the months and years after your or their placement in a care facility.

In the majority of cases we handle, our clients have never been through the process of planning for their senior years and don't have the necessary expertise, knowledge, or inside information to make the best choices or save the most money.  Let us help you make the right choices and get the best results.

Learn more about Medicaid with our FREE Medicaid Planning Guide
The first step toward learning more about Medicaid benefits and how they might help your elder care planning is to fill out the form to the right of this page to receive your FREE, no-obligation report: The Guide To Medicaid Planning - How To Save Your Home, Protect Your Assets, & Finance Your Care Without Going Broke. This 20-page book is written in clear, easy-to-understand language and is specific to Illinois Medicaid laws and requirements.  By filling out the form you also will gain instant free access to our members-only area and receive our newsletter.

The Guide To Medicaid Planning will answer many of your questions about finding funds for long-term elder care, such as:

• Do I qualify for Medicaid benefits?
• What is the difference between Medicaid and Medicare?
• How do I apply for Medicaid benefits in Illinois?
• My children's names are on my bank account - will that affect my benefits?
• Can I give my assets away to qualify for Medicaid?
• Are Medicaid eligibility requirements different for married couples?
• What happens to my Social Security check during this process?
• Can I afford to enter a nursing home without selling my house or farm?
• What is custodial nursing, and how might it affect my Medicaid benefits?
• What is the difference between exempt and non-exempt assets?
• Are prepaid funeral expenses considered exempt? What about my house and car?
• Are my 401K and IRA considered exempt?
• What if my spouse needs nursing home care, but I do not?

As a special bonus for requesting The Guide To Medicaid Planning today, you'll also have immediate FREE access, and be able to download, our e-book The Southern Illinois Elder Care Guide which features a number of essential items: 

• County-by-county listing of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, supportive living facilities, and hospice services in the 27 southern-most counties in southern Illinois.
• Printable rating forms to help you evaluate prospective elder care facilities.
• An easy-to-follow list of the questions you should be asking as you search for elder care options.
• How to Get Good Care in a Nursing Home - a "nuts and bolts" guide to ensuring that your loved one get the best elder care possible.
   

Request Your FREE Guides Now!

Contact us today to learn more about Medicaid planning
Although The Guide To Medicaid Planning and The Southern Illinois Elder Care Guide can answer many of the most basic questions you might have about Medicaid benefits and nursing home planning, it is important to understand that each case and each family deserves a unique, tailored long-term care plan that matches their individual requirements. Whether you are a senior researching your own options, a son or daughter helping your parents, or an aging parent looking for care solutions for your disabled adult child, we can help.

Habiger & Associates Elder Law Office (HAELO) provides legal services to elderly or disabled persons in Southern Illinois. The founder of the firm, Richard Habiger, is an elder law attorney with more than 30 years experience. We are an Elder Law and Life Care Planning Law Firm that provides legal and care coordination assistance, including: Medicaid planning; asset protection; estate protection; Medicaid applications; Medicaid appeals; VA pension benefits planning and applications for veterans and their surviving spouses; planning for those with Alzheimer's, dementia, or other forms of memory loss, and those who have suffered a stoke; Hospice planning; and special needs planning, including special needs trusts and supplemental needs trusts.

HAELO is located in Carbondale Illinois, and serves clients in twenty-seven Southern Illinois counties south of Interstate 70 highway. Southern Illinois Counties: Jackson County, Williamson County, Union County, Franklin County, Perry County, Saline County, Jefferson County, Hamilton County, Johnson County,  Randolph County, Wayne County, White County, Washington County, Edwards County, Monroe County, Wabash County, Richland County, Clay County, Marion County, Clinton County, Bond County, Fayette County, Effingham County, Jasper County, Crawford County, Massac County, Pulaski County, Alexander County, Pope County, Hardin County, Gallatin County, and Lawrence County.
Southern Illinois Cities & Towns: Carbondale, Murphysboro, Carterville, Herrin, Marion, Anna, Vienna, Metropolis, Harrisburg, West Frankfort, DuQuoin, Benton, Chester, Pinckneyville, Mt. Vernon, McLeansboro, Carmi, Fairfield, Nashville, Waterloo, Centralia, Salem, Albion, Mt. Carmel, Flora, Olney, Lawrenceville, Newton, Robinson, Jonesboro, Eldorado, Shawneetown, Ridgway, Sparta, Golconda, Johnston City, Marissa, Coulterville, Carlyle, Ullin, Tamms, Elizabethtown, Galatia, Wayne City, Cobden, Lake of Egypt, Goreville, Brookport, Olive Branch, Cave-in-Rock, Carrier Mills, Energy, Cambria, Zeigler, Royalton, Christopher, Rosiclare, Sesser, Okawville, Woodlawn, Thompsonville, Steeleville, Raleigh, Olmsted, Baldwin, Villa Ridge, Mounds, Tunnel Hill, Red Bud, Trenton, New Baden, Ewing, Dix, Norris City, Creal Spring, Bridge Port, Sumner, Waltonville, Breese, Aviston, Germantown, Whittington, Vandalia, and Ina.

Blog for Medicaid Planning / Asset Protection

• New DRA Medicaid Rules Threaten Life Estates
• Paying for Institutionalized Spouse's Care

Library for Medicaid Planning / Asset Protection:

• New Medicaid rules threaten Life Estates. Don't delay. Call now! Beat the date the new Illinois rules become effective.   
  Description: New Illinois Medicaid rules, implementing the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), threaten transfers of homes where a Life Estate has been retained. Also, the rules will be applied retroactively against transfers of homes and other assets made since February 8, 2006. The use of a care contract or other strategy may salvage ill-advised prior transfers.
• Protect Your Home & Assets. Call NOW before New Medicaid Rules Devaste Your Finances.   
  Description: New Illinois Medicaid rules will implement a 5 year "look-back" period and a new devastating way of calculating "penalty periods" for gifts and other transfers of homes, bank accounts, and other assets for less than fair market value. Act NOW before the effective date of the new rules to be "grand-fathered" under the old rules.
• Avoid Going Broke in a Nursing Home . . . . . Act NOW before Illinois adopts the federal Deficit Reduction Act (DRA).   
  Description: Illinois is about to adopt the draconian federal law called the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA). If you own a home or farm, or have savings or investments, and, within the next 5 years you may need care or assistance to continue living in your home, or may need to transition to assisted or supportive living, or may need care in a nursing home you need to take immediate action to protect yourself, your assets, and your loved ones.
• 2010 changes in the Estate Tax and tax basis rules on life estates have created problems for Medicaid and VA benefits planning.   
  Description: Estate tax changes for 2010 are creating problems for Medicaid planning to help pay for nursing home costs and VA benefits planning to help pay for at-home, assisted living, and other long-term care costs.
• Call for free consultation before signing a nursing home admission agreement.   
  Description: Guardians, power of attorney agents, and others may be liable for a nursing home resident's debt to the nursing home if they fail to act promptly or sign papers making themselves personally liable.
• Get Medicaid Out of Long-Term Care   
• Life Estates & Medicaid Secret # 1 [PDF]   
  Description: What Every Non-Elder-Law Attorney Needs to Know

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Frequent Questions for Medicaid Planning / Asset Protection:

• But my caseworker / nursing home intake person / friend / beautician / other advisor has told me rules that are much different than what you are saying. How can you be so sure that you're right?

• If you can really do this, how come I have never heard about this before?
• Are your Medicaid-related asset protection strategies really "legal and ethical"?