Upton Talks Medicaid Bill

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Legislation backed by Congressman Fred Upton is designed to protect senior citizens from being impoverished due to medical problems. He tells WSJM News the Protecting Married Seniors from Impoverishment Act would extend spousal protections for Medicaid beneficiaries receiving long-term care. Upton says pre-existing protections are currently set to expire.

“This would continue eligibility for folks who would otherwise lose it because of their personal wealth as it relates to impoverishment standards,” Upton said. “It’s been in place for a while. It needs to continue.”

Medicaid includes protections to prevent a spouse from depleting all their financial resources due to a significant others’ long-term care needs. However, in order to maintain Medicaid eligibility, some need to “spend down” their resources, and that could bankrupt them. The new plan would extend the spousal impoverishment protections, and Upton thinks it could pass by the end of the year.