Personal Injury Settlement Affects Medicaid Coverage
Florida Medicaid offers health coverage for people with few financial resources. A personal injury settlement is considered a financial resource. So, yes a personal injury settlement can affect Medicaid.
Keep in mind that if you received a low to moderate sum, this will probably not affect your benefits. However, you reasonably don’t want to lose your eligibility for Medicaid. An attorney from the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato can evaluate your situation and explain your rights. To begin a free case review, Call (954) 633-8270.
Your Personal Injury Settlement Could Affect Medicaid
Benefits.gov notes that Medicaid is reserved for those who are:
- Pregnant;
- Responsible for a minor child;
- Blind;
- Disabled (or have a disabled family member); or,
- More than 65 years old.
These individuals also cannot have financial resources that exceed a certain amount. For instance, a household with only one person cannot make more than $18,075 a year to qualify in 2022.
A personal injury settlement adds to your financial resources. So, if your settlement pushes you over the minimum earning threshold, this could disqualify you for Medicaid benefits.
Your Personal Injury Settlement and Medicaid
When you recover compensation, you could get it as:
- A lump-sum settlement. Here, you would get your settlement all at once. This could affect your eligibility for Medicaid, since it would immediately increase your financial resources.
- A structured settlement. In a structured settlement, you get payments over a period of time. These payments would continue until you get the full sum. This likely wouldn’t affect your eligibility for Medicaid, since you wouldn’t receive huge sums at once.
Many injury settlements come as structured payments. In those situations, claimants see no change to their Medicaid benefits.
What Are My Legal Options if I Receive a Settlement on Medicaid?
You have some options if you receive a settlement while on Medicaid:
- You can put the money in your exempt assets. Medicaid does not consider all of your financial assets when determining your eligibility for benefits. For instance, childcare costs are exempt. You may have received payments for childcare costs as part of your settlement––and these would be separate from your countable financial resources.
- You could spend the money before applying for benefits. You may hope to soon apply for Medicaid. To meet the income threshold, you may want to spend your settlement beforehand. After all, Medicaid cannot count assets you don’t have. Yet, you don’t want to spend your settlement before you fully understand your losses.
- You could put the money into a trust. By putting your settlement into a special-needs trust, you can use your settlement to pay for your losses. Medicaid would not consider these funds.
Each of these options has its own pros and cons. You may consider partnering with a Fort Myers personal injury attorney. They can assess whether your injury settlement affects your Medicaid eligibility. If so, they can implement an appropriate course of action.
You Can Partner with an Injury Lawyer on Your Case
If you suffered harm, you deserve compensation for your injury-related losses. You also deserve to continue receiving benefits from Medicaid. After all, this program is what allows you to seek medical care.
When you partner with our injury team, we will:
Assess What Your Injury Case Affects
Recovering a personal injury settlement affects more than Medicaid. It can also affect:
- Divorce proceedings
- Your child support arrangement
- Your eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits
- Your taxes
You shouldn’t leave these matters to chance. Our team can evaluate how your injury settlement will affect various aspects of your life, including the factors listed above.
Evaluate Your Overall Situation
Our team will do more than evaluate your eligibility for damages; we’ll examine your income threshold, as well. This allows us to seek damages without compromising your eligibility for Medicaid. We will also determine the at-fault and liable parties a critical aspect of your injury claim’s success.
Help Establish a Special-Needs Trust
As noted, a special-needs trust allows you to separate your settlement from your countable financial resources. This would preserve your right to Medicaid without having to forfeit your settlement. Yet, this is easier said than done. You don’t want to risk incorrectly setting up your trust or mismanaging funds. Your Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer can help set up this trust and explain your legal options.
Serve You on a Contingency-Fee Basis
If you’re on Medicaid, you may already have concerns about your finances. Suffering harm in an accident only makes matters worse. That’s why we offer help on a contingency-fee basis. Our attorney’s fees don’t come from your savings; they come from your final settlement. In this arrangement, you don’t pay retainers or hourly rates. We can start working as soon as you contact us.
Begin Your Free Case Review with the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato
Our team advocates for injured people in South Florida. If you’re concerned about whether your settlement will affect Medicaid, connect with our personal injury attorney Florida at the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato. We’re ready to learn your story and champion your rights. To begin your free case review, Call (954) 633-8270. We can discuss personal injury and Medicaid.
