Time marches on and sooner or later some of the elderly may be forced to enter a nursing home to receive proper care and attention. That becomes a very expensive proposition and can quickly eat up all that you have worked for and saved. It is common knowledge that the cost of such care can exceed $60,000.00 a year. Hopefully you or your parents never will have to enter a nursing home, but planning ahead is smart thing to do. Eventually you or your loved ones may have to rely on government assistance. That assistance is in the form of Medicaid.

Medicaid is a joint, federal and state program to pay the cost of care and residence in a nursing home. In Pennsylvania that program is called medical assistance. This program is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare through the county Medical Assistance Office and pays for health care of needy persons.

To plan for the possible eventuality of entering a nursing home it is important to understand how the medical assistance program works. It is never too early to start that planning, but it can be too late. Eligibility for the medical assistance program is controlled by a puzzling set of government regulations and understanding those regulations is crucial. DuffyNorth can solve the medical assistance puzzle, either for advanced planning or at the time of entry into a nursing home.