Medicaid Planning Attorney in Connecticut | Long-Term Care Planning

A long-term care crisis can unfold with frightening speed. A fall. A stroke. A diagnosis. Suddenly you or a parent needs nursing home care that costs $15,000 to $20,000 a month in Connecticut — and families who thought they were financially comfortable realize their savings will not last long.

Medicaid is the program that pays for long-term nursing home care for people who qualify financially. But Connecticut's Medicaid rules are strict, the application process is unforgiving, and well-meaning steps like "giving the house to the kids" can cause months of ineligibility at exactly the moment a family is most vulnerable.

I'm Aakash Sharma, and I help Connecticut families plan for long-term care — before a crisis, during a crisis, and everything in between. Call (860) 560-8382 or complete the contact form to schedule a consultation.

Medicaid vs. Medicare — Why the Distinction Matters

Families often assume Medicare will cover a long nursing home stay. It will not. This is one of the most common and painful misunderstandings in long-term care planning, so it's worth stating clearly:

• Medicare is federal health insurance for people 65 and older and for certain people with disabilities. It is not means-tested. Medicare covers hospital stays, doctor visits, and up to 100 days of skilled nursing care after a qualifying hospital stay — but it does not cover long-term custodial care (help with eating, bathing, dressing, toileting).
• Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that does cover long-term custodial nursing home care — but only for people who meet strict income and asset limits.

When families ask whether Medicaid can help pay for nursing home care, they are usually asking about Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Medicaid, also called Title 19. In Connecticut, the program for seniors aged 65 and older, or for blind or disabled individuals, is administered by the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) under the name HUSKY C.

[H2] Connecticut Medicaid Eligibility for Long-Term Care

To qualify for Connecticut LTSS Medicaid in 2026, an applicant must generally meet three types of requirements: medical, income, and asset.

Medical (Level of Care) The applicant must require a nursing facility level of care, certified through a functional assessment.

Income For most long-term care Medicaid programs in 2026, applicant income must be under a specified threshold, and almost all of the applicant's monthly income must be paid toward the cost of care, except for:

• A small personal needs allowance
• Amounts needed to pay Medicare premiums
• Amounts that may be diverted to a non-applicant spouse under spousal impoverishment rules

Assets In 2026, a single Connecticut applicant for Nursing Home Medicaid generally must have $1,600 or less in countable assets. For a married couple where only one spouse is applying, the community spouse (the one staying at home) may retain a portion of the couple's combined assets under the Community Spouse Protected Amount (CSPA) — up to a statutory maximum that changes each year.

Not all assets count. The primary home is generally exempt up to a home equity limit, and so are household furnishings, personal effects, one vehicle, an irrevocable prepaid funeral contract up to a statutory cap, and term life insurance without cash value. IRAs and retirement accounts are counted in Connecticut (unlike in some other states).

These figures change every year and are set by Connecticut DSS. I check the current numbers for every consultation because even small changes can affect eligibility.

The Five-Year Lookback and Why "Just Give It to the Kids" Backfires

This is one of the most important concepts in Medicaid planning, and one of the most commonly misunderstood.

When you apply for Connecticut long-term care Medicaid, DSS reviews your financial records for the sixty months (five years) immediately preceding your application. This is called the lookback period. If DSS finds that you gave away assets or sold assets for less than fair market value during the lookback — for example, transferring the house to a child, gifting money to grandchildren, or adding a non-spouse to a bank account — DSS treats those transfers as disqualifying and imposes a transfer penalty.

The penalty is calculated by dividing the value of the disqualifying transfers by a figure called the penalty divisor (Connecticut's approximate average monthly cost of private-pay nursing home care, updated annually by DSS). The result is the number of months you are ineligible for Medicaid coverage of long-term care, even though you've already spent down the assets.

Here is the trap: during the penalty period, you have no money and no Medicaid. The family member who received the gift may not be able — or willing — to return it. Nursing homes still need to be paid. This is the nightmare scenario good Medicaid planning is designed to prevent.

A few things to understand:

• The lookback applies to long-term care Medicaid programs only, not to regular HUSKY Medicaid
• Annual gifts that are fine for IRS gift tax purposes are not fine for Medicaid — the IRS gift tax exclusion has no bearing on Medicaid rules
• Some transfers are permitted exceptions — for example, certain transfers to a spouse, to a disabled child, or to a caregiver child who meets specific requirements
• If planning is done more than five years before an application, transfers fall outside the lookback window entirely

This is why planning early matters. The earlier a family engages, the more options exist.

Planning in a Crisis — Options When the Five-Year Window Is Gone

Many families don't think about Medicaid planning until a parent is already in a nursing home or a spouse has received a sudden diagnosis. At that point, the five-year lookback is not a long runway — it's an obstacle. But it is rarely a dead end.

Strategies that may still be available in a crisis include:

• Spend-down on exempt assets or care costs — paying off a mortgage, making home repairs, purchasing an irrevocable funeral trust, or paying legitimate caregiver compensation under a written agreement
• Spousal strategies — restructuring assets between spouses using the Community Spouse Protected Amount
• Medicaid-compliant annuities — converting countable assets into an income stream for the community spouse
• Caregiver child exception — for a child who has lived with and provided care to a parent for at least two years immediately before institutionalization
• Return of gifted assets — fully or partially reversing a prior transfer to cancel or reduce the penalty period
• Promissory notes and other structured transfers — in limited circumstances and with careful documentation

Every case is different. What works for one family may be the wrong move for another. This is detailed, fact-intensive work, and the consequences of a misstep are significant.

Connecticut's Estate Recovery Program

One more thing families should know: after a Medicaid recipient passes away, Connecticut has the right to seek reimbursement from the recipient's estate for the Medicaid benefits paid during their lifetime. This is called estate recovery, and it is required by federal law (42 U.S.C. § 1396p) and implemented in Connecticut under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-93.

In practice, estate recovery is most likely to reach assets that pass through the probate estate — often including the home, which was exempt during life but becomes reachable after death. There are exceptions (for a surviving spouse, for a minor or disabled child, and certain hardship situations), and there are planning strategies that can keep assets out of the probate estate entirely.

This is another reason Medicaid planning is an estate planning issue, and why long-term care planning should be coordinated with wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations.

When to Start Planning

The honest answer: the earlier, the better. Medicaid planning five years before a potential application opens doors that are closed in a crisis.

That said, it is almost never too late to plan. Even in a crisis, a knowledgeable attorney can usually protect something — sometimes a lot — that the family would have lost without guidance.

Families most often come to me when:

• A parent's health is declining and the family is worried about what comes next
• A spouse has received a diagnosis that will eventually require long-term care
• A loved one is already in a nursing home, private funds are running out, and the family needs to prepare a Medicaid application
• An applicant has been denied Medicaid and needs a strategy to address a transfer penalty
• Adult children are planning ahead for their own long-term care needs, not just their parents'

How I Work With Families

Medicaid planning is not a transactional, templated engagement. It requires honest conversations about health, money, and what your family is willing to do. I approach it the same way:

1. Initial consultation — We talk about the situation, the timeline, and what your family is trying to protect. No pressure, and if your situation doesn't actually need Medicaid planning, I'll tell you.
2. Asset and income review — I gather the financial picture, identify what counts and what doesn't, and map out eligibility.
3. Strategy — I walk through the realistic options, including trade-offs. Medicaid planning almost always involves choices, not magic.
4. Implementation — Preparing documents, executing transfers correctly, coordinating with financial institutions, and documenting everything DSS will want to see.
5. Application support — If needed, I assist with the Medicaid application itself and respond to DSS requests for information.

Schedule a Medicaid Planning Consultation

If you or a loved one may need long-term care in the coming months or years, don't wait for a crisis. Call (860) 560-8382 or complete the contact form to schedule a consultation.

Law Office of Aakash Sharma, LLC 750 Main Street, Suite 100 Hartford, CT 06103 (860) 560-8382 [email protected]

Aakash Sharma is admitted to practice in Connecticut. This page is attorney advertising. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Medicaid rules and figures change frequently; verify current amounts with a qualified attorney before making any planning decisions. Submitting a contact form does not create an attorney-client relationship.