My 91 year old Mom had a series of strokes in early April. She is currently in Rehab which is paid for by Medicare. It looks as though she will not benefit much longer from the therapy and will need to stay in the care center and go on Medicaid. I understand that her income will be drawn from her bank account. What about Life Insurance? She has about $6,000.00 in this to cover death expenses. Will the govt take that too?
I would not allow a NH to draw Moms SS from her account. You either pay the bill monthly or you allow the NH to become her payee for SS. For me, I didn't want the hassle if any problems with SS after Moms passing so I allowed them to become payee. SS sometimes stop payment prematurely. If that happened, the NH would need to deal with it.
The speculation is not correct though.
A funeral home should be able to assist you as well.
If there is life insurance and the policy dates back past the five-year Medicaid look back period that's safe as well.