Do I need a Qualified Income Trust in Florida?

Start with gross income

Add up every regular source of the applicant's income for a month: Social Security, pensions, annuities, and any other payment that arrives regularly. Use the amount before anything is withheld. For Social Security, that is the benefit before the Medicare Part B premium comes out, which is more than what lands in the bank. For a pension, it is the amount before tax and insurance premiums.

Working from the bank deposit is the most common mistake we see. A person whose deposit is under the limit can still be over it on a gross basis, and DCF counts gross.

Some kinds of income are counted differently. If anything besides Social Security and a pension is involved, that is a good reason to have the firm look at the figures.

Retirement accounts can push income over the limit

Once a person reaches the age when federal law requires minimum distributions from an IRA, those distributions are part of the picture. That age is 73 for people born from 1951 through 1959 and 75 for people born in 1960 or later. Our free QIT Check adds the year's required distribution, spread over twelve months, to monthly income.

How a particular account is treated depends on the account and how distributions are taken, so the QIT Review works from the actual statements.

Close to the limit is not safe

Social Security and pension amounts usually change each January, and Florida's income limit changes over time too. A person a few dollars under the limit this year can be over it next year. If income is close, plan for a QIT rather than wait for a denial.

Married applicants

The income test looks at the applicant's income: for nursing home Medicaid, DCF does not count income that belongs only to the spouse at home. A QIT holds only the applicant's own income, never a spouse's. The spouse's income still matters later, in figuring any monthly allowance for the spouse at home. That is one reason married households should have the numbers checked.

What to do with the answer

If the answer is yes, the trust has to be signed, its bank account opened, and the income deposited in the same month it arrives, every month. Medicaid will not pay for long-term care in a month the QIT was not funded, and a missed month cannot be fixed by depositing late. Someone also needs the legal authority to sign the trust, which is often where an out-of-state power of attorney falls short. The steps are in how to set up a QIT.

If the answer is no, a QIT is not needed for the income test. The other Medicaid rules, including the asset limit, still apply. A QIT solves an income problem only, and no one can promise that Medicaid will be approved.

Questions

Can I check online?

Yes. The free QIT Check asks three questions: gross monthly income, the value of any IRA on December 31 of last year, and age at the end of this year. It answers yes or no based on the information you provide, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

Is the QIT Check's answer final?

No. It is only as good as the figures entered, and DCF decides eligibility. The QIT Review checks the figures against the documents.