The Answer [posted September 12,2006]

The statement
"If I give money to my children or my church, I'll automatically be ineligible for Medi-Cal for nursing home care for 36 months"
is False

Quick Response:
Under the Medi-Cal nursing home eligibility rules, a person who gives assets away can be penalized. The penalty is in the form of a number of months of ineligibility for Medi-Cal.
The above statement suggests that there is an automatic 36 month ineligibility period. That is incorrect. The length of the ineligibility period depends on the size and timing of the gift, as well as to whom it is given.

Warning:
The Medi-Cal gifting rules will be changing significantly. No one knows whether the rule changes might be retroactive. For information about the coming changes, see Medi-Cal Nursing Home Care Update:Overall. Anyone contemplating making gifts, or anyone contemplating applying for Medi-Cal who has made gifts in the past, should work with an experienced and capable advisor.

Discussion:
Giving away assets can make a person ineligible for Medi-Cal nursing home care for a period of time. Some gifts are not penalized, including gifts to the applicant's spouse, gifts to the applicant's disabled child and gifts of exempt (non-countable) assets. Under current law, Medi-Cal counts gifts made within 30 months before filing a Medi-Cal application. To determine the length of the penalty peroid, Medi-Cal (under the current rules) divides the value of what was given away by the average monthly private pay cost of nursing home care to determine the number of months of ineligibility. Currently, ineligibility starts with the month in which the gift was made.

This information came from our class series, our Medi-Cal for Nursing Home Care Nuts & Bolts Guide, and our article Medi-Cal Nursing Home Care Update:Overall.