Florida Medicaid programs can provide services to individuals meeting certain medical and financial criteria, and are either a citizen or resident alien. Once an individual meets these criteria, the rules are fall into two categories: single and married individuals.
With an Immediate Annuity, the assets of the married couple are placed in an annuity for the healthy spouse. In this structure, the well spouse is able to retain a certain amount of assets, and the healthy spouse receives the annuity as income while the ill spouse is eligible for Medicaid. The annuity in this structure must be for a specific term, and a beneficiary must be identified in the event that the healthy spouse dies before the annuity is fully paid.
When the couples have income of less than $2,000, including pensions and social security, and assets less than approximately $200,000, the healthy spouse may keep certain assets to get a monthly income equal to the amount allowed by the law.
A healthy spouse can outright refuse to pay for the care the ill spouse needs. The ill spouse then follows the rules for individuals to determine eligibility for Medicaid. This is a common technique used in second marriages.
For single persons, there are several ways to become illegible for Medicaid, and many assets are not considered when assessing Medicaid eligibility. Many of the assets of single people can be legally sheltered to qualify for Medicaid. The specifics of each individual must be analyzed to determine what course of action is right for them.