Title 19 - Friend or Foe?

Is Title 19, AKA Medicaid, a friend or a foe?

Medicaid is a program that pays for covered medical and health care costs of people who qualify.  The Medicaid program is funded by federal and state governments and is managed by the Iowa Department of Human Services.

So, what does Title 19 have to do with preplanning a funeral?

Basically, in order for people to qualify for various government medical and health care cost programs, they must meet certain income and resource limits that vary from program to program.  Usually, this means that a person must divest oneself of, or spend down, most of their assets and remain under specified low-income requirements to qualify for the government benefits.

In other words, if people want to provide for their funeral, they must either stay off of Title 19 so they can use their own savings, investments or personal insurance or they must arrange to pay for a funeral before going on Title 19 via prefunding a trust which protects those funds from being reclaimed by the government.

Friend or foe really depends on your specific economic and health care situation.  If you would like to discuss how this affects your personal funeral preplanning needs, stop in and visit with Warren Roland.