Medicaid planning is the process of legally restructuring your assets so you can qualify for Georgia Medicaid benefits to pay for nursing home care without spending everything you own first.
A shared room in a Georgia nursing home costs about $8,821 a month, the median in CareScout’s 2025 Cost of Care Survey. Most families cannot pay that out of pocket for long. Medicaid is the primary government program that pays for long-term nursing home care, but it has strict income and asset limits. Without planning, a single person generally has to spend countable assets down to $2,000 before Medicaid will pay for nursing home care.
Medicaid planning is the legal and ethical process of restructuring your finances before you need care, so more of your assets can be protected when the time comes.
Who Needs Medicaid Planning in Georgia?
Medicaid planning is relevant for any Georgia family that may need nursing home care in the future and does not have enough savings to pay privately for years. This includes:
- Adults approaching retirement who have modest to moderate savings
- Families with an aging parent who is starting to show signs of cognitive or physical decline
- Spouses of someone who needs nursing home care now
- Anyone who owns a home and is worried about a Medicaid claim against it after death
If you have significant assets and want to protect them from being spent entirely on nursing home care, Medicaid planning is worth understanding.
What Does Medicaid Planning Actually Do?
Medicaid planning uses legal tools to help you meet Medicaid’s eligibility requirements while protecting assets for your spouse or your children. Common strategies include:
Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts (MAPT)
A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust is an irrevocable trust you move assets into years before you need care. A five-year wait applies, and it is counted from the day each asset goes into the trust. After five years, Medicaid generally does not count the trust’s principal when it decides if you qualify. Any income the trust pays you still counts as your income. Assets you moved in less than five years before you apply count at their full value toward a penalty. No trust is a guarantee. For families who plan early, this is one of the most effective long-term planning tools available.
Spousal Protection Strategies
Medicaid rules let a community spouse (the spouse who is not in the nursing home) keep part of the couple’s assets. Medicaid planning helps maximize what the community spouse can keep.
Exempt Asset Repositioning
Some assets are exempt from Medicaid’s asset limits. These include your primary home (under certain conditions), one vehicle, and certain prepaid burial arrangements. Repositioning countable assets into exempt categories is a legitimate planning strategy.
The Five-Year Lookback Rule
Medicaid looks back five years (60 months) from the day you ask it to pay for nursing home care. This look-back is a federal rule, 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(c), and it covers transfers made by you or your spouse. If you gave away assets or moved them into a trust within those five years, Medicaid can impose a penalty period. During the penalty, Medicaid will not pay the nursing home.
This is why Medicaid planning works best when it starts early, ideally five or more years before you expect to need nursing home care. The longer you wait, the fewer options you have.
What Medicaid Planning Is Not
Medicaid planning is not hiding assets, fraud, or giving money away to your children to beat the system. Every strategy used in legitimate Medicaid planning is legal, documented, and disclosed. An experienced elder law attorney builds the plan to follow Medicaid’s rules. Georgia’s Medicaid agency still reviews every application and makes the decision.
When Should You Start?
The answer is almost always: sooner than you think. The five-year lookback means that assets you move into a trust today are still inside the lookback until five years from now. If you apply before then, their full value counts toward a penalty. If you wait until a diagnosis or a fall, your options narrow significantly.
The ideal time to do Medicaid planning is in your mid-60s to early 70s, before any health event forces the issue. If you are already dealing with a health crisis, planning is still possible, but the strategies available are more limited.
How The Hive Law Can Help
The Hive Law works with Georgia families on Medicaid planning, including Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts and spousal protection strategies. Melissa Breyer personally reviews every family’s situation and recommends a plan based on their specific assets, health, and timeline.
If you are thinking about long-term care and what it would cost your family, start with a call. Your first call is free, about 15 minutes, and happens by phone with Shawn. If you move forward, your next step is the Design Meeting with Shawn and Melissa, which is credited toward your plan.
